LANXESS updated its LewaPlus design software for the water industry

November 2, 2019 2:31 pm

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The specialty chemicals company LANXESS has comprehensively updated its LewaPlus design software for the water industry. The dimensioning of reverse osmosis (RO) and ion exchange systems (IX) is now even more practical and user-friendlier. There is also the option to include ultrafiltration (UF) in the planning. The new UF module will be presented for the first time at Aquatech, which will take place from November 5 to 8, 2019, in the Dutch city of Amsterdam.

New UF module for the design of ultrafiltration

Ultrafiltration is used as pretreatment for reverse osmosis – and increasingly for ion exchange resins applications. Around one third of all newly built reverse osmosis systems have upstream ultrafiltration – and the number is rising.

Ultrafiltration purifies and disinfects water in a single step. It is an alternative to conventional filtration in water purification and produces filtrate with a water quality that is considerably more consistent. Ultrafiltration often also replaces other conventional treatment techniques as well as microfiltration, as it also removes smaller particles and thus significantly reduces deposits in subsequent process steps. This enables a more stable process.

Costs at a glance

At Aquatech, LANXESS will present a new cost module available in LewaPlus. This can be used to determine the investment and operating costs of an ion exchange system. The investment costs include the cost of installing the system as well as the cost of procuring ion exchange resins. The operating costs comprise expenses for regeneration, water supply and wastewater disposal. A cost forecast helps users to estimate the costs over the course of the system’s planned total service life (total cost of ownership, TCO).

The new calculation options are available in LewaPlus for all ion exchange resins modules, thus enabling a cost comparison of various system designs and processes. These expand on the existing cost calculation for RO systems. Using identical calculation parameters makes it possible to carry out a direct comparison of the costs of reverse osmosis and ion exchanger systems. “To our knowledge, this function is unique,” says Lipnizki.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]