Prayon is a global producer of innovative phosphate and fluorine solutions headquartered in Belgium. The company supplies customers in numerous sectors ranging from animal nutrition to the chemical industry, construction, horticulture, personal care and healthcare.
A circular economy is central to Prayon. The company therefore partnered with Ekopak in 2020 to make their production process more sustainable.
Use of demin water
Prayon chose a containerized water treatment plant from Ekopak. Since the company is located next to the sea canal in Puurs-Sint-Amands, the canal water can be pumped and upgraded to pure, demineralized water. This water is utilized in several stages in the company.
“A large part of the demin water is used for our steam production. Another part as washing and re-extraction water during phosphoric acid production. Demineralized water is also used for dilutions. The great advantage of demin water is that it deposits significantly less calcite. For the life of our plant, that’s a big plus.” – Nick Thienpont, Site Manager at Prayon.
Less stress on freshwater resources
Prayon requires an average of 255,000 m³ of water/year for their production process. Before Ekopak’s installation, this water came from tap water. Thanks to the switch to a decentralized water supply, the pressure on tap water is now reduced by 90%.
Through ultrafiltration (1x80m³/h) and reverse osmosis (3x20m³/h), canal water is converted into process water for the production processes. The wastewater is then re-purified and discharged into nature as surface water. In this way, the full circle is closed.
“Together with Ekopak, we went looking for the best technical solution with the highest impact. With this new installation, we are fully going for circular water use. Ekopak takes care of the follow-up and maintenance of the installation, so we are completely unburdened and our operators can focus on their core task, the production of steam.” – Nick Thienpont.
