Arvia trials removal of colour from water at UPM Shotton

Water treatment start-up Arvia Technology has concluded trials of its Nyex process to remove colour from process water at UPM's Shotton recycled newsprint mill in Deeside, Wales.

The small-scale trial to remove a straw-coloured tinge from the water, caused by resins in the fibres being recycled, ran continuously for several months.

According to Arvia co-founder and technical director Nigel Brown, ”taking out the colour means the water can be re-used”.

Approximately 5% of Shotton's effluent water was treated by the unit. The mill is now evaluating data from the trail to calculate the economic impact of the process.

UPM UK head of energy & utilities Andrew Bronnert said the tests could improve the water treatment process: ”For paper mills, water usage is an important issue and the target is a closed-loop system. This could lead us further towards closed-loop water.”

However, Bronnert added that a closed-loop system would still need energy to cool the water.

Brown said the process may have applications for removing any organic colouring from the water, including ink. This could offer a solution for de-inking digital print, particularly dye-based inks used in high-speed inkjet machines. There may also be applications for treating printers' waste water.

”If it's water-based and organic, I'd assume we could treat it,” Brown added.

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