Page 68 - 2016 CSR Report
P. 68
NEW PATENTS
The Aqualia research team obtained a new patent Five patents have also been applied for on various
on the production and refining of biogas in 2016: of the technologies currently in demonstration such
as ELAN, AnMBR, MDC, MFC and the crystallising
EP 14382399.5 on the feeding of an anaerobic of struvite.
reactor UASB.
PIG technology applied for cleaning water intake pipes in the Mostaganem, Algeria, desalination plant.
INNOVATION APPLIED TO THE BUSINESS
One of the most important questions for Aqualia Also in 2016, Aqualia successfully applied PIG (Pi-
in the ambit of innovation is to be able to transfer peline Inspection Gauge) technology to clean water
all the knowledge acquired from research and the intake conduits in the Mostaganem desalination
development of new technologies and processes to plant in Algeria. This technique, used traditionally in
the daily operation of the business, thus improving petrochemical sector, is one of the first experiments
its competitiveness and resulting in a substantial world wide in the water sector and its application
improvement of the services it offers to the public. to a large desalination plant. The PIG system has
helped to reduce the cost of cleaning the conduits in
Among the multiple actions carried out in this sense the SWDP with an approximate saving of 70% in the
during 2016, special mention must be made of the maintenance of the plant’s intakes and a production
installation in Almería of a predictive system to increase of 16.7%, equivalent of the supply of water
help in the management and prevention of leaks for a further 125,000 persons.
in the distribution system by applying intelligent
information technology systems that have allowed
more than €70,000 to be saved during the year
thanks to improved water efficiency.
68 2016 REPORT
