Koch Membrane Systems (KMS) is an industry leading manufacturer of innovative membrane filtration solutions. The company’s solutions have been helping industries minimize their cost while maximizing productivity.
Textiles is an important vertical for KMS whose unique technologies are used to treat and reuse expensive chemicals and reduce the demand on wastewater treatment systems. The company also offers water-filtration solutions that are energy efficient and engineered to comply with stringent standards for wastewater discharge or reuse.
In an exclusive chat, Mr. Jack Noble, General Manager, Water and Waste Water, EMEA, spoke in detail about the company’s products, what makes them special and the importance of the Indian market to KMS, among others.
Here are the edited excerpts:
Giving an introduction about Koch Membrane Systems, Mr. Jack Noble said that it is a part of Koch Industries, which is one of the largest private businesses in the US offering membrane filtration solutions for water and waste water treatment. “It is predominantly a pollution control type of business started 50 years ago. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with subsidiary offices in Europe, China, India and Latin America,” he stated.
“We are serving two business segments – water and waste water treatment and process separation businesses. Process separation includes caustic recovery, indigo dye recovery, PVA recovery in the textile sector, wine and beer filtration, milk and vegetable-based protein filtration, gelatin concentration and more,” Mr. Jack Noble said.
Focus on textile industry
The textile industry is an important part of the company’s business. It accounts for 5-10% of the business. The business is growing fast, particularly in India. So while textiles is not the biggest part of the business now, he expects it to become far more significant over the next decade.
Referring to the company products and solutions for the textile industry, Mr. Jack Noble said: “As a complete solution provider, we have applied our experience and expertise to develop a line of crossflow filtration spiral and tubular membrane products suitable for the harsh conditions in the textile industry. Our broad portfolio includes unique membrane products to treat and recover caustic, PVA and dyes to increase the efficiency of textile operations and to reduce the load on wastewater treatment systems. These filtration solutions are energy efficient and environmentally friendly, complying with all water quality requirements”.
So which are the key textile markets that KMS is focused on globally? “India and China are the two biggest markets for textiles. Bangladesh is showing great promise, as also Turkey. But the focus is predominantly on India and Bangladesh,” Mr. Jack Noble remarked.
Importance of the Indian market
Throwing light on just how important the Indian market is for KMS, he observed: “India is a very important market for KMS. The industry here is getting interested in zero discharge. A combination of internal Indian legislation and customer-driven expectations is creating the growth in this market for us. Last year, we sold 5-6 waste water treatment plants in India. There is a lot of interest in process separation in caustic, PVA and indigo recovery. Most of our orders, and the main enquiries are from Tirupur and Gujarat. Some plants in north India have also shown interest. India’s textile membrane applications market is currently, worth around $100 million, and in the next 2-5 years, I expect it to treble.”
Mr. Jack Noble was all praise for Indian engineers who, he felt, made a big difference and about whom he had this to say: “The great thing about the Indian market is that you have an educated end users and educated engineers. It is easier to sell MBR in India than in Turkey or other European countries where knowledge of water treatment isn’t as well developed. India has a fabulous group of water engineers comparable to the best in the world. We entered the waste water segment in India in 2013 and have been selling MBR membranes to treat textile wastewater since last two years.”
KMS has several installations already operating or currently under construction in India with capacity ranging between 400 and 6,000 m3/d. Most significant projects have been executed through either European OEMs or Indian system integrators, such as Europrogetti (KPR, HP Cotton, Jay-Jay, Himatsingka, Premier), Hydrotech Engineering (Sintex), Waternext (Indian branch) (Tirupur) and Hydrotech Paryavaran (Lodz Denim).
Given that there are many solutions available for water and waste water management, why should a customer consider using the solutions offered by KMS? What are the advantages that the company offers, Mr. Jack Noble replied: “Membrane technology is the technology to go for today and is endorsed by leading players, and the solutions offered by KMS are the most advanced in the market? Commonly accepted membrane systems are the best technology for what you are trying to achieve. Where land is at a premium and you want to achieve reuse and ZLD, then conventional is not an option. We recently retrofitted a system that was conventional with an MBR system. We replaced everything from biological stage with a single set of membranes that are operating at a lower capital and operational cost, with better efficiency. If ZLD and reuse are really going to be the norm then conventional technologies will simply not be an option.”
Elaborating further on the subject, he added: “Furthermore, our technology fits perfectly for the Indian processing sector – a compact system that occupies very little space compared to conventional effluent treatment plants, a high rate of waste water recovery of over 95%, and economical operational costs making it feasible for the industry to move towards zero liquid discharge.”
Mr. Jack Noble further said that KMS is co-operating with several qualified partners in India such as Europrogetti, Hydrotech Engineering, Waternext, Simem SpA, SA Pharmachem (for process application) and Hydrotech Paryavaran.
“The after sales as well as the service and maintenance will be completely handled by our experienced local partners. We also have the KMS process and field service support engineer based out of our Mumbai office,” Mr. Jack Noble observed while referring to the other strong point of the company.
KPR Mill successfully switches to KMS PURON MBR technology
Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. (KMS), a global leader in membrane filtration technologies, has announced that it has provided PURON Membrane BioReactor (MBR) modules as part of a system upgrade to the wastewater treatment facility of KPR Mill Ltd., one of the largest apparel manufacturing companies in India.
KPR Mill decided to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility from an old conventional plant to an advanced MBR technology due to its environmental commitment to ensure zero liquid discharge (ZLD) by recycling 100% of its wastewater. Among the key reasons for selecting the PURON MBR modules are its unique design, including single header and central aeration, reliable and consistent operation, and strong after-market support from KMS.
KPR Mill has been using a conventional effluent treatment plant (ETP). The old technology involved high chemicals consumption which required high maintenance levels, resulting in frequent production shut downs due to ETP failures. The new MBR plant is designed to handle 3000 m³/day of textile effluent, utilizing two MBR trains. Initial results show that KPR Mill has reduced chemical costs and eliminated downtime, maximizing textile production.
In addition to savings in operational cost and production optimization, KPR strives for an eco-friendly textile processing system. Selection of PURON membranes helps achieve the goal of environmental sustainability.
“The membrane bioreactor technology from KMS operates very reliably and has resulted in a significant reduction of chemical, operating and maintenance costs of about 10%,” said Mr. C.R. Ananda Krishnan, Executive Director of KPR Mill Ltd.
“KMS has developed advanced membrane solutions for the textile industry,” said Mr. Manny Singh, President of KMS. “Our products and services help the industry treat wastewater to meet strict discharge and reuse targets, and create value through various chemical recovery processes.”