Siemens and Texas A&M AgriLife Research to Develop Cost-Effective Technology to Remove Heavy Metals from Water and Wastewater
• Technology removes selenium, mercury and other heavy metals and metalloids from power utility, mining, refinery and other industrial water and wastewater to meet National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) limits
• Continued research will develop and commercialize technology to reduce footprint and increase operations efficiency over a wide range of temperatures and pH-levels compared to existing remediation processes
Siemens Water Technologies and Texas A&M AgriLife Research have signed an exclusive license agreement and a research and development agreement to continue to develop and commercialize a chemical-based technology to more efficiently and cost-effectively remove heavy metals from water and wastewater at power utili-ty, mining, refinery and remediation sites.
“The Texas A&M University System is a leader in water technology in our agriculture and engineering programs. We are excited to partner with Siemens, a worldwide leader in technology, to commercialize and advance this technology which could have significant benefits to water and wastewater treatment,” said John Sharp, A&M System chancellor.
In a single process unaffected by temperature or pH-levels, the technology can re-move selenium, mercury, zinc, copper, chromium and other heavy metals as well as metalloids to meet National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) limits.
The commercialized system is being designed to occupy a smaller footprint than current remediation treatment systems to reduce capital expense and to operate more efficiently in a wider range of environments.
The technology is based on an Activated Iron ProcessTM for the removal of contami-nants from water and wastewater developed by Dr. Yongheng Huang, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University, who recently received the 2013 Rudolfs Industrial Waste Management Medal by the Water Environmental Federation at its Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC). Huang is also an AgriLife Research scientist.
“AgriLife Research looks forward to further developing and commercializing its novel chemical process and reactor with a world leader such as Siemens Water Technol-ogies,” said Dr. Craig Nessler, AgriLife Research director. “We are confident that our partnership with Siemens will yield environmental and economic benefits across multiple industries.”
“Industrial operators are seeking new solutions to meet heavy metal remediation challenges and regulatory requirements,” said Dr. Lukas Loeffler, Siemens Water Technologies CEO. “The agreements between AgriLife Research and Siemens Water Technologies will help develop a solution to meet this need and is another example to our commitment to innovation and industry leadership through research and development.”
Siemens Water Technologies’ R&D is focused on ultrapure water and drinking water, waste reduction, energy and process efficiency, desalination and water reuse. The company holds more than 1,600 granted patents and patent applications.Â
About Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Texas A&M AgriLife Research comprises its College Station headquarters, 13 research centers reaching from El Paso to Beaumont and Amarillo to Weslaco, and associated research stations. A member of The Texas A&M University System, AgriLife Research has 1,700 employees, over 500 of which are doctoral-level scientists. Today, AgriLife Research is the state’s premier research agency in agriculture, natural resources, and the life sciences. An agency of the Texas A&M University System, AgriLife Research collaborates with the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, and others to help fulfill the A&M System’s land-grant mission of teaching, research, extension, and service.
About Siemens Industry
The Siemens Industry Sector (Erlangen, Germany) is the world's leading supplier of innovative and environmentally friendly products and solutions for industrial customers. With end-to-end automation technology and industrial software, solid vertical-market expertise, and technology-based services, the Sector enhances its customers' productivity, efficiency, and flexibility. With a global workforce of more than 100,000 employees, the Industry Sector comprises the Division’s Industry Automation, Drive Technologies and Customer Services as well as the Business Unit Metals Technologies. For more information, visit http://www.siemens.com/industry
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