Industrial Project of the Year
Bayer Self-neutralising Wastewater Treatment Plant, Belgium
What is it?
A major transformation of Bayer’s wastewater treatment plant in Antwerp, harnessing digital engineering and biological expertise to minimise chemical dosing and sludge production. An innovative approach introduced a self-neutralising concept to a facility that treats approximately 5,500m³/d of complex life sciences and chemical manufacturing wastewater, consisting of eight production streams.
Who is involved?
Bayer provided internal process expertise and testing facilities while Waterleau contributed batch-scale investigation of the biological process. AM-Team provided digital twin models for virtual piloting and model-based process design, and Air Liquide provided jet mixing technology.
What makes it special?
- The self-neutralisation approach challenged traditional biological treatment assumptions: instead of treating alkalinity during denitrification as a side-effect, the project strategically employed it as a process resource, generating a variety of savings. Sodium hydroxide consumption fell by 40% and sludge production by 35%, alongside significant reductions in dewatering chemicals, filter cake production and disposal costs.
- Engineering innovation solved the biotoxicity risks posed by introducing partially neutralised acid into a living biological system, through toxicity validation, sequential experiments and modelling. This minimised local low-pH toxicity and optimised high-intensity mixing technology design while preserving biological stability.
- A fully integrated digital engineering approach combined real‑world testing with virtual full‑scale simulation, replacing costly onsite piloting to enable rapid de‑risking and accelerate implementation.
Jafurah Desalination Project, Saudi Arabia
What is it?
A full-scope desalination and transmission system dedicated to Saudi Aramco’s unconventional gas operations at Jafurah. It supplies the field with 80,000m³/d of high-quality water through 200km of pipelines, supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 strategy and setting a new standard for seamless integration of industrial water supply with upstream energy operations.
Who is involved?
Developed by a Mowah–Lamar–Albawani consortium, the project was executed by SEPCO as the EPC contractor, with IDOM providing detailed engineering design. TECTON supplied the major treatment equipment including electrochlorination, DAF, media filtration and two-pass RO. Endress+Hauser provided analysers and monitoring instrumentation.
What makes it special?
- The deep infrastructure megaproject integrates desalination, long distance water and power transmission, and in-field distribution, supplying Aramco’s operations with 500,000 barrels per day of treated seawater.
- The system delivers industry-critical reliability despite sharp swings in intake salinity and temperature, achieving 97.2% treated water availability. Redundant RO trains, advanced real-time monitoring, and 85,000m³ of storage capacity ensure a continuous and resilient supply of water to the field.
- As one of the world’s first large-scale desalination systems purpose-built for unconventional gas development, it is enabling rapid development of the Kingdom’s energy diversification programme while protecting stressed groundwater resources.
Salt Lake Lithium Extraction Project, Tibet
What is it?
A 2,300m3/hr (55,200m3/d) expansion of a lithium brine project jointly developed by Sunresin New Materials and Tibet Guoneng Mining in Tibet, realising direct lithium extraction (DLE) at scale under challenging conditions.
Who is involved?
PSP.US provided ultrafiltration membranes and process design for the magnesium removal step, with PolyCera Shanghai as equipment supplier and technical execution partner. Sunresin New Materials supplied the adsorption and separation systems used for DLE and is responsible for plant operations.
What makes it special?
- The project is an impressive demonstration of DLE at commercial scale. This second phase has more than doubled the total plant capacity to over 100,000m3/d, supporting the extraction of up to 60,000 tonnes per year of lithium salts to fuel the energy transition.
- The Jieza Chaka Salt Lake mining area is a difficult environment, with winter brine temperatures dropping below 4°C. An integrated process ensures stable extraction from cold, high-pH, hypersaline brines, operating without conventional pretreatment to cut system complexity and operating costs.
- Coupling membrane separation for magnesium removal with adsorption-based DLE provided a scalable blueprint for project expansion. The use of robust PolyCera Hydro-UF membranes tackled high levels of suspended solids while reducing energy consumption, aligning lithium production with sustainability objectives.
SIN01 Data Center by Start Campus, Portugal
What is it?
A retrofitted and modernised seawater cooling system for high-density AI workloads at the 1.2GW Start Campus, Microsoft and Nscale data center in Sines, Portugal. The pioneering approach delivers precise cooling with zero freshwater use and unmatched energy efficiency.
Who is involved?
Jacobs led project management and technical delivery, supported by specialist subcontractors including AFA Consult Architectural and Prospectiva for engineering support, and CME for integration of the heat exchange system. Hydrodynamic modelling was carried out by Hidromod and new intake and outfall systems were constructed by Conduril.
What makes it special?
- A 30m deep wet well minimises pumping demands and delivers 20m³/s of seawater to the heat exchange system, feeding an advanced dual loop design. This unique cooling architecture does not consume any water, a critical advantage in a region facing water scarcity.
- By relying on seawater cooling instead of mechanical chillers, the facility cuts non-IT energy use to just 9% of total demand, significantly outperforming the 36% global average. This shift in sustainable infrastructure enables total reliance on renewable energy and minimised cooling costs.
- The brownfield design has repurposed local legacy infrastructure, limiting new construction and embodied carbon. Tightly controlled treatment and discharge limits are supported by continuous monitoring, ensuring minimal impact on the surrounding marine environment.
Yibin Wuliangye Wastewater Treatment Plant, China
What is it?
A landmark 30,000m³/d industrial wastewater treatment facility serving the Yibin Wuliangye Industrial Park for liquor production in Sichuan, China. The world’s largest wastewater treatment plant dedicated to baijiu distillery effluent, it began operations in June 2025 and combines resilience, resource recovery, and carbon-negative performance in an integrated solution.
Who is involved?
The project was developed and is operated by Wuliangye Group, with design by Central and Southern China Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute, and construction by China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Group. Key equipment was delivered by CGN, Hach, Endress+Hauser, Wilo, Ohmesel, Guangzhou Shengqi and Shandong Pacific.
What makes it special?
- A multi-barrier process combines anaerobic digestion, a two-stage anaerobic-aerobic system, sedimentation, electron-beam irradiation, and deep-bed filtration. The site has pioneered electron beam irradiation for treating baijiu effluent, producing no secondary pollution and reducing operating costs by 20%.
- The fully integrated sludge-to-energy system converts 100% of sludge into power, delivering 11 million kWh annually via offsite co-combustion.
- An energy-positive design combines biogas, solar power and waste heat recovery, generating 61 million kWh per year. This exceeds plant needs, with 7 million kWh of surplus electricity exported to the grid to generate $600,000 in annual revenue.