Journal article
Microfiltration Cost Benchmarking for Large Facilities
14 Jan 2010
Abstract
A number of models of the cost of microfiltration treatment exist, but these models generally do not address, or are not validated for, larger facilities (facilities with design flow of 5 mgd or greater). In the past, microfiltration was not cost-competitive for larger facilities, but it is now being adopted at plants with design flows as large as 20 mgd. Accordingly, there is a need to extend these cost models to include larger facilities. Data for the larger facilities is still somewhat sparse, as only a few have yet been constructed. Nevertheless, the information that is available on these facilities can provide a valuable guide as to the economies of scale that may be available to larger treatment plants. In this study a survey of costs at large microfiltration plants was conducted. Data was obtained for 10 facilities, including 3 facilities with design flows greater than 9 mgd. The results indicate that large systems can achieve economies of scale, despite the modular nature of most microfiltration units. The three largest facilities (design flows of 9 to 20 mgd) have costs of less than 50 cents/thousand gallons. The cost estimates for facilities with flows of less than 5 mgd closely match a previous survey of small microfiltration plants. In addition, this study provides a basis for extending the predictions of existing cost models up to design flows of 20 mgd. Results indicate that costs vary among systems of the same capacity with 95% of all systems being within roughly a factor of two of the mean cost.
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Details
- Title
- Microfiltration Cost Benchmarking for Large Facilities
- Creators
- Patrick L. Gurian - Drexel University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering; College of Engineering
- Other Identifier
- 991014632438404721