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Dango & Dienenthal Brings Filter Systems to Fight Zebra Mussels to U.S. Market
03/29/2013 - Recently, Dango & Dienenthal's high performance filters including the MUSSEL STOP system were introduced to the U.S. market and are now available from the company's production site in Ohio. This will allow U.S. companies to take advantage of the experience gained by the European steel industry and apply it to the zebra mussel issues in the U.S.
As part of the eco system, the zebra mussel takes on the important task of water treatment. In doing this, every single zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) filters phytoplankton and other organic particles of up to 34 fl oz of water per day. However, that results in an enormous growth of the mussel and its population: A growth that drives steel plant operators insane.
Pictured below: Growth of the zebra mussel larvae
Pictured below: Growth of an adult zebra mussel
Especially in the steel industry, the demand for process water is extreme. For the production of one ton of steel approximately 5,000 to 10,000 gallons of water are needed. The water used for steel production in North America is mostly taken from the big rivers and lakes. But these waters are becoming more and more contaminated by mussels and mussel larvae.
Pictured below: Spread of the quagga and the zebra mussel in North America
As early as in the mid-80s zebra mussel larvae were brought across the Atlantic Ocean, probably in ballast water tanks of European ships. In 1988, the first population was discovered in Lake St. Clair, Mich. Since then, the triumph of the mussel which originally resident in western Asia could not be stopped. The ecological effects of the settlement of the species on the domestic fauna of the affected areas was not originally understood until it was too late. Now the consequences for the steel producing industry are showing themselves quite clearly and increasingly: mussel larvae are settling in cooling water circuits, growing and blocking heat exchangers and pipe systems. As a result, the cooling performance decreases rapidly. In extreme cases, the plant fails or has to be shut down to prevent it from overheating.
Pictured below: Section of a pipe blocked by zebra mussels
For the cleansing of pipes and heat exchangers, steel plant operators often use chemical or chlorinated detergents. Apart from the environmental damage, this method is extremely cost-intensive and does not offer a permanent solution to the problem. Moreover, environmental authorities obtain more and more prohibitions of these kinds of approaches.
Manual cleaning of the heat exchangers also means a continuous burden for the operating companies, who have to shut down the plants regularly to remove the mussels.
European companies had to face the same challenges decades ago, before they discovered a more effective, cheaper and permanent solution to the problem: installation of special DANGO & DIENENTHAL filter systems in cooling and process water circuits.
For many years, the German company DANGO & DIENENTHAL has produced high performance filters including the MUSSEL STOP system, which have proved to be effective against the zebra mussel and other troublemakers. Their operating principle is an interaction of different physical processes, but the key to success is an extraordinary high filtration velocity. That is the reason why organisms passing through the filter element are either shredded or heavily deformed and exposed to enormous rotation forces. This combination leads to the killing of the mussel larvae. Moreover, the danger of bio fouling in pipe systems is extremely reduced and the maintenance intervals of plant parts (e. g. heat exchangers, spray nozzles etc.) is prolonged significantly. The effectiveness of this method was already proven by DANGO & DIENENTHAL at several installations in Europe.
Pictured below: Working principle of the MUSSEL STOP system in destroying og mussel larvae
Recently, this product was introduced to the U.S. market and is now available from DANGO & DIENENTHAL production site in Alliance, Ohio. This will allow U.S. companies to take advantage of the experience gained by the European steel industry and apply it to the zebra mussel issues in the U.S. Since these will be manufactured in Alliance, Ohio, they will have the added benefit of being produced by American workers utilizing the German engineering which has made these filters so successful in the European steel industry.
Pictured below: DANGO & DIENENTHAL filter including MUSSEL STOP filtering cooling water
Check www.musselstop.com for more information.
