Progress report for
BKT Tomorrow Water Project
Achievement at a glance
The progress of TWP 2.0(2021-2025) is on track, with the consolidation of our foundational technologies through contracted projects alongside the progression into the digital innovation space.<Process Design Progress>
Downstream:
- The Noksan project(700m³/d) awarded in 2019 was successfully commissioned as TWP’s first sidestream AMX(Anammox process) project. The operating data from the plant is promising and the client, city of Busan, is satisfied and marketing it themselves as a successful implementation.
- The demo plant at the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District(MMSD), of the Proteus, is on track and the officials visited the Jungnang Water Resource Recovery Facility in Seoul, Korea to tour the successfully operating Proteus at the one of the oldest and largest sewage treatment plant in Korea.
Upstream:
- The upstream process of the TWP, Integrated Upstream Process(IUP) is applied at the home city, Daejeon, for the sludge treatment process with Draco(thermal hydrolysis), AAD(anaerobic digestion), and AMX(anammox process) as a total package solution. The project is a relocation and retrofitting of the old plant, and is planned to start construction in 2023 and finish in 2028.
<Digital Transformation>
- The development of BKT’s Water AI(WAI) is on track, as basic versions for designing our own IUP process was completed along with 3D modeling and database library building. Furthermore, updates were made with WAI-Design Proteus basic version and others.
Challenges faced in implementation
Co-Flow Campus, our future wastewater treatment model within the concept of the Tomorrow Water Project, is a complex integration of solutions to maximize the flow of water, energy, data and economic values. It requires the cooperations between all departments ranging from the research and development to legal counseling for related licensing and approvals. This is where we are facing the main challenges in implementation, both public and private sectors must be willing to work with one another and have understanding of the conceptual design and incorporation.This leads to difficulties in finding the fundings for the pilot and demonstrations of the project, where we face the needs for more understanding and untangling of the issues that surround such sophisticated system.
Next Steps
1) Developing New Ideas:TWP has always been a concept adaptable to whatever environment necessary. In keeping its core principles and ideas together, the application of additional technologies highlights the distinguishing features of the project. We are looking forward to climate technologies and related ideas, such as carbon capturing and creating additional value such as hydrogen with the biogas created from organic wastes. For these developments, discussion for partnerships are active, as more and more partners are becoming friendly to our TWP.
2) R&D Completion:
The search for new contributions to the TWP unit technologies continue, as aerobic granular sludge(AGS) process and oxygenic photo-granule(OPG) process research is under way piloting in Daejeon. A patent for OPG process was registered also in 2023, with more patents under development.
3) Funding for demonstration in advancing countries:
We continue our search for funding, to pilot and demonstrate in advancing countries. In lieu of expensive treatment options, TWP stays grounded in its mission to supply a sustainable future for all groups demanding the proper sanitation they deserve. Not only did we look to provide a technologically advanced method of doing so, but we looked to create one efficiently utilizing the investments.
4) Marketing:
The effort to introduce our TWP to the world continues, as we continue to meet with local government officials and agencies through various channels such as international exhibitions. We are expanding our efforts globally, and preparing to participate in more exhibitions in 2024.
Beneficiaries
As TWP is targeting not just the environmental needs, but the economic needs as well, we stated on the previous report that we are going beyond and growing to serve the demand for societies to skip the developing stage to be on par with the developed. We aim to benefit the people in most need for sanitation, and not just in one time but continuously beneficiary, with the concept of Co-Flow Campus where water, energy, data and economic values flow together. This is what we propose as the future wastewater treatment.
Actions
- Recognizable Awards Includes;: The AMX(anammox technology) has been awarded Technology of the Year by The National Academy of Engineering of Korea
: CEO&Founder of BKT has been awarded Order of Industrial Service Merit, Bronze Tower(3rd class).
: Awarded the Global Sustainable Leader 100, 5 years in a row from Association for Supporting the SDGs for the UN(ASD)
: Selected as the top group in the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals Business Index, 5 years in a row from Association for Supporting the SDGs for the UN(ASD)