LG, Lotte Daesan Petrochemical - Daesan, South Korea Hydrocarbon processing industry

LG, Lotte Daesan Petrochemical (LDP) was created in 1988 and is now a leading player in the Korean petrochemical sector.

The production complex in Daesan, located south of Seoul, has two naphtha crackers and 24 affiliated production units. Covering an area of 3.9 million square meters, the complex produces one million tons of ethylene and 3.3 million tons of by-products, annually. This includes synthetic rubbers, polyolefins and PVC.

The complex employs 5,000 people, who live on site with their families.

In the context of a financial restructuring of the company, LDP decided to sell its drinking and industrial water production assets, considered as non-core activities to their business.

LDP transferred risks and responsibilities associated with operating these water treatment facilities to an expert service provider - Veolia Water.

To meet the needs of LDP, Veolia Water invested US$125 million to buy existing assets and signed an operation and maintenance contract with LDP for the industrial and drinking water production plants on the Daesan site.

The scope of Veolia Water's services is:

• ­two pre-treatment lines: 31.7 MGD (120,000 m3/d)
• ­one reverse osmosis unit: 22.2 MGD (84,000 m3/d)
• ­two demineralized water lines: 12.9 MGD (49,000 m3/d)
• ­two drinking water production lines: 1.1 MGD (4,000 m3/d)
• ­two cooling circuits: 528.4 MGD (2,000,000 m3/d)

Technology used:

• ­pre-treatment process: Clarification / Sand
  filtration/ Sludge treatment (thickening and dehydration)
• ­production of RO water: Polishing / Membrane techniques
• ­production of de-mineralized water: De-ionization / Activated carbon filtration / Polishing

A total of 36 LDP employees were transferred to Veolia Water.