Water treatment for growth: advanced treatment technologies and water-as-a-service for chemical manufacturing

Chemical manufacturers globally face increasing pressure to improve returns on capital while navigating water scarcity and wastewater discharge constraints. Water treatment infrastructure is increasingly becoming a strategic business decision rather than simply a utility afterthought. Solving these challenges requires both advanced treatment technologies and adopting innovative commercial delivery models.

First, we showcase select advanced treatment technologies relevant for the chemical industry, including CoMag^® ballasted clarification, for generating cooling water, Ionpure^® Continuous Deionization (CEDI) as a chemical free polishing technology for generating boiler feedwater, and BioMag^® system, a high-rate ballasted clarification technology, for solids removal downstream of the biological (aeration) treatment process in wastewater treatment. Several case studies are presented to demonstrate these solutions in action, ranging from cooling tower blowdown reuse to ballasted clarification.

Next, we will discuss capital saving Water-as-a-Service commercial models we have pioneered for the chemical industry including: both temporary water treatment solutions, and long-term permanent Design-Build-Own-Operate-Maintain solutions. Our Water-as-a-Service approach shifts water treatment equipment sales to performance contracts, saving chemical plants valuable capital to reallocate to core production assets, while also transferring water treatment performance risk.

Presenters:

Kishor Nayar, Director of Business Development, Xylem

Kishor Nayar leads Xylem's Chemical Processing Industry (CPI) water treatment business, focusing on developing design-build-own-operate-maintain (DBOOM) solutions ($1M-$100M+ contract values). He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and a B.Tech. (Hons.) degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay. A licensed Chemical Engineer in Texas, Kishor is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and has been recognized by the U.S. government for extraordinary ability in his field. He brings 14 years of experience spanning industrial water treatment, engineering, sales, technology commercialization, project development, and cross-functional leadership. He has authored 20+ technical publications (2,000+ citations) and holds 3 patents.

Utsav Shashvatt, Business Development, Xylem

Utsav has spent the last five years developing technical solutions for emerging challenges in the water treatment space. Prior to Xylem, he was a fellow at UC Berkeley working on pilot technologies for ammonia recovery from wastewater. In his current role as a Business Developer, he works closely with chemical plants to help them identify cost-effective treatment options for keeping operations running smoothly while mitigating the risks associated with water as a critical utility. Over the past several years, his work has spanned water reuse, metals removal, and high-TDS water treatment. He holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering from University of Maryland Baltimore County and a B.Tech. in Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science from IIT Bombay.