CAMDEN, NJ, Nov. 5, 2009 -- Biothane, LLC a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Company, announced today the celebration of their 30 year anniversary.
Technical Innovation: Key to success
"The same drive for innovation still remains as it did 30 years ago" says Robert Sax, President of Biothane, LLC. Over the last 30 years, Biothane has brought many technologies to the forefront in the worldwide water treatment business and has been able to capitalize on the strong efforts of Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies.
The first Biothane plant built in the United States began operating in 1981 at a brewery in Wisconsin, and is still operating today. In 1991 Biothane Corporation formed its subsidiary company Biothane Systems International (BSI) in Delft, Holland with people who have been involved with the technologies for years. Together Biothane and BSI have designed and installed over 500 anaerobic treatment systems worldwide.
Biothane has done several projects for well known companies including: Coca Cola, Smucker's Company, Anheuser Busch, Fleischman's yeast, Kellogg's, Nestle, Frito-lay, McCain Foods, Heineken and Tropicana.
Some of the technologies that Biothane has introduced in the last three decades are summarized below:
• EGSB-Expanded Granular Sludge Bed. A reactor for situations where space constraints exist. The tall, slender reactor for anaerobic wastewater treatment is based on the conversion of organic pollutants (COD) into biogas in an oxygen free atmosphere. Volumetric loads in this technology average 18-22 kg of COD per m³ /day.
• UASB-Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket. The high performance compact reactors have a characteristic COD load of 10-15 kg per m³ per day with excellent treatment efficiencies. This results from the ingenious configuration of the reactor in which the methane bacteria form easily settable granules, developing a high concentration of biomass in the reactor.
• SEAD-Shear Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion. The unique SEAD technology utilizes high shear nozzles, creating an environment that maximizes mixing and solids shearing. This ensures continuous, intimate contact with the bacteria, optimizing the rate of digestion.
• CSTR-Completely Stirred Tank Reactor is the anaerobic equivalent of a conventional activated sludge digestion system. The Biobulk CSTR may be designed with a downstream solids separation step for treatment of high solids, high FOG washwater, or designed as a once through system for treatment of high solids waste (TSS >2%).
The Biothane name was created by Rob Sax and Maurice Holtz of Joseph Oat Corporation. After several discussions they chose the name Biothane which came from the words Biological Methane.
In 1981 the Biothane logo was created. They were trying to be creative and toying around with a capital "B." After several attempts they chose a lower case "b" with a red flame around it. The logo was trademarked on April 23rd, 1991. The famous Biothane logo was used for nineteen years.
Still going strong after 30 years of existence, bringing strong innovation to the water and wastewater market is still the primary strategy of Biothane.
Little did they know when the company was founded in September of 1979, it would be celebrating 30 years of existence, and grow to be part of the Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies family.
About Biothane, LLC
Biothane, LLC has been in the business of industrial wastewater treatment since 1979 and has grown to become one of the worlds leading suppliers of anaerobic treatment systems with more than 500 installations. With our staff of 35 professional people at our headquarters office in Camden, New Jersey, Biothane is well equipped to design, engineer, construct, and commission biological treatment systems to meet today's increasingly stringent wastewater discharge requirements. The use of anaerobic technology as a pre-treatment step presents many advantages. These benefits are namely: (a) tremendously lower sludge production which serves to greatly alleviate disposal problems; (b) production of a usable energy by-product in the form of methane gas; (c) significantly lower operating costs due to much reduced consumption of energy and greater ease of maintenance; and (d) system space efficiency.
Biothane has installed numerous turnkey facilities as well as "limited workscope" facilities. The space efficiency, responsiveness, simplicity of operation and contact efficiency are all features of Biothane's high rate anaerobic processes which makes them the technology of choice for many of the world's leading industrial producers.
About Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS), subsidiary of Veolia Water, is a leading design & build company and a specialized provider of technological solutions in water treatment. With over 8,900 employees in 57 countries, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies recorded revenue of €2.5 billion Euros in 2008.
About Veolia Water
Veolia Water, the water division of Veolia Environnement, is the world leader in water and wastewater services. Specialized in outsourcing services for municipal authorities, as well as industrial and service companies, Veolia Water serves 139 million people worldwide. With 93,400 employees, its 2008 revenues amounted to €12.6 billion.
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