Dredging Project in Antwerp Harbour

Over the years, the port of Antwerp has accumulated an enormous amount of sediment, which has reduced its navigability.

Initially, this sediment was removed by dredging and disposed of in ponds, but over time this method became unsustainable for two reasons:

• there were no more space to put the dredged sediment;
• the land in contact with the sediment, which was often polluted, became saturated with toxic substances and there was a risk of groundwater contamination.

After a detailed analysis of various technologies (including centrifuges and belt presses), filter presses were chosen.

This decision was based on the high flexibility of the equipment and the optimal total cost of ownership. The customer chose Diemme^® Filtration as a partner on the basis of several criteria:

• Reliability of the company and the product.
• Fulfilment of the performance guarantee.
• Production capacity to meet the project schedule.
• Compliance with the project criteria.
• Flexible and collaborative attitude.

This state of the art installation of 12 filtration lines with GHT.2000.P19 filter presses has been in operation for over a decade and processes up to 600,000 t/y of dry solids.