October 3, 2011 [Globes] - The water treatment and fuel fumes treatment facilities that will be dedicated today will greatly reduce pollution in Haifa Bay.
Government-owned Petroleum and Energy Infrastructures Ltd. (PEI) will inaugurate the new facilities at Haifa’s Oil Terminal, built at a cost of NIS 50 million.
PEI CEO Rafi Taterka said that investment in the facilities was part of the strict environmental policy that the company has adopted in the past few years and its close cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection. He said that the upgrade of oil terminal’s operating systems would greatly improve the air quality in Haifa and the Bay area. He added that the investment in the fuel fumes recycling facility and the water treatment facility were in addition to the NIS 12 million recently invested in maintenance operations and the upgrade of the pipeline conduit system that links the oil terminal with the storage farm, as well as extensive monitoring operations at the storage farm.
The fuel vapors recycling facility traps fumes emitted from oil tankers during loading and unloading cargoes by using a closed system of pipes and an active coal filter that absorbs the fumes, which are recycled back into the fuel tank. The facility cuts fumes in accordance with the standard set by EU directives. The facility is one of the most advanced of its kind, and cost NIS 15 million to build.
The water treatment facility includes a membrane biological reactor (MBR) with a 10,000 cubic meter capacity to treat hydrocarbon and particulates concentrations in water, which regular filtration and separation systems cannot separate. The core of the MBR contains bacteria that break down hydrocarbons. The biomass is filed through membranes to obtain clear water that comply with the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s permits for discharging into the sea.
The MBR operates round-the-clock, and can treat 120 cubit meters of water a day. The hydrocarbon concentrates in the discharged treated water are continuously monitored. The data is sent directly online to the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s Marine and Coastline Division. The facility cost NIS 20 million to build.
