21.3.2019. Audi has achieved on the way to the wastewater-free automotive production is a further milestone. At the site in Ingolstadt the company opened a new operation water supply centre.
In conjunction with the existing treatment plant approximately one-half of the on-site waste water can be fed in a cycle and re-use are recycled. A year Audi a saving of up to 500,000 cubic meters of fresh water. The heart of The operation of water supply, center of the so-called membrane Bio-reactor (MBR).
Water is available in the entire manufacturing process of an automobile is necessary, for example, in the paint shop. With the new water supply center for Audi at the Ingolstadt location new paths and uses the water as a resource even more efficient.
“Thanks to this innovative waste water treatment, we lower the fresh water demand of the production at the Ingolstadt plant by a third,” says Rüdiger Recknagel, head of environmental protection at AUDI AG. “At the same time, we avoid about 40 percent of sewage.” Thus, the premium manufacturer underlines its commitment to the sustainable use of water: in the Mexican location in San José Chiapa, Audi produced since 2018 Automotive wastewater, and certified by independent assessors. With the new plant, the plant in Ingolstadt achieved a milestone in the direction of “Zero Liquid Discharge” (ZLD).
Marriage, the company of water back to the wastewater as a fresh operation in the production processes at its site in Ingolstadt, it will be processed in up to three stages of Treatment. It undergoes, first, a chemical-physical plant. This neutralizes the alkaline and acidic components and removes heavy metals, for example, come from the paint shop.
Subsequently, the membrane Bio-reactor is used. He is the core element of the water treatment. Here, the Production is mixed with Sanitary waste water and of organic components to be removed. The MBR then removed by means of pores fine membranes of bacteria and viruses from the wastewater. Audi goes to in the water treatment a step further than conventional sewage treatment plants do not use this method. Finally, a reverse osmosis reject residual salts. Thereafter, the purified water is returned as process water in the production.
With the new water supply centre, Audi wants to save annually up to 500,000 cubic meters of fresh water. In conjunction with the existing treatment plant, the premium manufacturer leads at the Ingolstadt site in the future, around half of the wastewater in a cycle.
In order to save groundwater, Audi at the Ingolstadt site in addition, as a result of rain water for domestic water purposes. For rain water of more than 450,000 square metres of roof and the Parking area is collected in underground cisterns. Depending on the weather conditions of up to 260,000 cubic meters can be used for rain water annually.
Audi has undertaken to reduce, by 2025, the environmental factors that influence energy consumption, CO2 emissions, fresh water, waste and volatile organic Compounds by 35% per produced car compared to the reference year 2010. In the long term, the company aims to produce Automobiles CO2-neutral and free of waste water.
Innovative water treatment, and Audi saves up to 500,000 cubic meters of fresh water annually (photo: AUDI AG)
