Water Treatment System for SK Ecoengineering

Chematek designed a treatment system comprising ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, delivering deionised water suitable for use as boiler feedwater. The project was completed in three years, starting in 2019, in two phases. The second phase was identical to the first and simply doubled the output.

“Our principal characteristic is a capacity for great flexibility, because at Chematek we are accustomed to constant cooperation between our company’s different divisions,” said Stefano Balzano, Director of the EPC Business Unit in Livorno, Italy: “Projects of this size require great synergy of operation amongst project managers, procurement, engineering, quality control and all the other functions directly managed by our EPC unit in Livorno, while our Milan head office was instrumental in handling administration, finance, expediting and logistics.”

Chematek secured this commission through participation in a tender competition, alongside other major EPC companies. Its success was determined not only by price, but also for its experience in EPC projects. One of the plant’s distinctive features is the possibility of remote monitoring, which enabled Chematek to directly supervise the efficiency of the system for a year.

Another powerful benefit offered by the plant designed and built by Chematek is its modular construction, facilitating delivery and assembly in situ. The plant is fully automated and highly flexible, adapting to variations in environmental factors, such as temperature, without the need for manual adjustment. Due to its construction details, maintenance is rapid and easy.

“Remote control was not part of the initial specification.” said Luca Spurio, Project Manager at Chematek, “We decided to install it and it has proved to be a highly positive feature. We were able to provide comprehensive assistance for the client during the first year of operation. Then, when they entrusted us with the second commission, which doubled capacity, our complete suite of project documentation and certification facilitated the process even though the key personnel figures at their end, involving staff in Korea, Poland and Hungary, had changed. Without doubt, our previous experience in oil & gas, with its elevated standards of safety, helped us deliver this project with seamless efficiency.”

“After installation, I was on site in Poland for three weeks to check that the client was using the piping systems correctly,” said Oscar Alvarez, Project Engineer at Chematek, “and I supervised the start-up phase with all the accompanying documentation. After completion of the first project, the client’s procurement manager expressed his satisfaction not only for the quality of the plant installed, but also for the fact that we had consistently met delivery deadlines to the exact day.”

Chematek’s relations with SK Ecoengineering are continuing, with new plants, related to the production of hydrogen for fuel cells, planned for South Korea, Europe and Canada.

SK Ecoengineering required a water treatment plant for a new factory in Poland manufacturing a lithium-based substrate, which is then supplied to another factory in Hungary producing automotive batteries.

For its manufacturing processes, SK Eco needs water with total hardness below 1mg/l CaCO3. That was the challenge given to Chematek.