WASTEWATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY

CEB 30503
DR. SALEM S.S. ABU AMRO

AUO SUNPOWER SDN BHD VISIT REPORT

NAME ID NUMBER
NUR IEDRIYANNA BINTI RAHMAN 55213217109
NUR FARHANA BINTI ABD KHALID 55213217052
HANIS AMIRAH BINTI MOHAMAD SAID 55213217057
NOR FATIN NAZIRA BINTI MALIK 55213217130
1.0 SUMMARY

The objectives of the industrial visit to SunPower is to study the process of wastewater
treatment and the way of handling waste in industry. SunPower which the global headquarters
that based in Silicon Valley has been leading global solar innovation since 1985 as it solar
panels consistently deliver more energy and long-term peace of mind with the highest
performing solar power systems available. It has diversified global portfolio leading residential,
commercial and utility solar energy markets with world's highest efficiency solar panels
featuring SunPower® Maxeon® cell technology and has more than 750 patents for solar
technology. Next, SunPower has a closed-loop sustainability strategy for very stage of the
product lifecycle, extending to their employees and communities around the world. The
company is the first solar company in the world to earn the prestigious Cradle to Cradle
CertifiedTM Silver designation for the E-Series and X-Series direct current (DC) panels
manufactured in their facilities in Mexico, France and the Philippines,beside SunPower use
packaging materials that are recyclable or reusable that help in reducing construction waste.

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2.0 WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT IN AUO SUNPOWER

In AUO Sunpower Melaka, the company produce 500m3 wastewater per day. There
two section of wastewater treatment plant which is, reverse osmosis and heavy metal removal.
SCADA system has been used in this plant to control the process of the water treatment. and
there two control room used for this plant. Heavy metal is removed by using reaction in the
reaction tank while the reverse osmosis is done by using filter media. Before the treatment is
done, Jar Test is very crucial to determine the best method and parameter that should be used
to treat the wastewater.

For the reverse osmosis, the wastewater is treated by using filter media. Reverse
osmosis works by using a high-pressure pump to increase the pressure on the residual side
of the RO and force the water across the filter media. The amount of pressure required
depends on the residual concentration of the feed water. The more concentrated the feed
water, the more pressure is required to overcome the osmotic pressure. The wastewater is
flow from the top of the tank through the filet media. Residual will attach to the filter media
while clean water will leave the tank from the bottom. After a period of time, the efficiency of
the reverse osmosis process will be decreasing as the increasing of residual attached to the
filter media. Backwash is needed to remove the residual so that the efficiency of the reverse
osmosis can be increase.

Figure 1: block diagram of heavy metal removal plant

Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the heavy metal removal plant. In this part, the
wastewater from the EQ tank will flow to the reaction tank. Chemical reaction to remove the
heavy metal is occurred in the reaction tank. For the plant, there are two reaction tanks operate
at the same time. this is because if one of the reaction tanks facing downtime, the plant will
can still operated as they have another reaction tank as a backup. the process is then
continued by the flow of the wastewater from the reaction tank to the proving tank. In this tank,

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characteristic of the wastewater is examined. If the requirement of the wastewater did not
achieve, the wastewater will be recycled back to the EQ tank to be treated again. the
wastewater discharge rate for the plant is 60m3 per hour.

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3.0 TYPE AND SOURCE OF WASTEWATER.

The modern world runs on a partnership between water and energy production.
Conventional energy sources use a tremendous amount of water to produce electricity, and
in addition it takes a lot of energy to make drinkable water. A water shortage can mean a crisis
for the energy industry. But the good news is that photovoltaic (PV) solar power helps
significantly reduce the amount of water needed to make energy and helps save water districts
money. Solar energy offers a much more earth friendly way to produce electricity.

At SunPower, the aim is to be a regenerative force by designing and manufacturing

solar products that are as sustainable as the clean energy they produce. It is being
accomplished through the beneficial by design product development approach and Light on
Land™ development practices that address potential environmental issues such as habitat
loss, water over-use, or the use of potentially hazardous materials. Overall, it takes just a few
cups of water, not dozens of gallons to make one kilowatt hour of solar energy. Some water
is required to clean solar panels so they operate at maximum efficiency. Seasonal rainfall and
snowmelt are usually enough to keep residential solar panels dust free. Commercial or utility
users with large arrays use SunPower’s robot solar panel cleaners, which use very little
precious water.

On the other side of the water story is the municipal water treatment facility that must
be pumped, treated and retreated wastewater while also purifying and process the drinking
water. The district partnered with SunPower to repurpose a retired dairy farm into a
1.5megawatt solar power system. This solar system now produces enough energy to offset
40 percent of the district’s water-producing electricity costs through an innovative bill credit
program that allows energy generated at one site to offset the electricity costs of other meters
in the same district.

The agriculture industry, an especially water-intensive business, has increasingly

embraced solar as a way to combat rising electricity costs. From almond processors to
mushroom growers and wineries, more food and beverage companies are going solar to
reduce their bottom line while doing something that’s good for the environment. Some cities
have built plants that turn saltwater into freshwater. Such schemes are energy-intensive and
are guaranteed to drive costs higher. They also highlight the vicious cycle nagging
policymakers in both the public and private sectors.

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4.0 TYPES OF INDUSTRIAL AT THE COMPANY.

Since 1985, SunPower has been leading global solar innovation. SunPower solar
panels consistently deliver more energy and long-term peace of mind with the highest
performing solar power systems available. SunPower is the solar energy choice of more
homeowners and businesses around the world. It has a global headquarters based in Silicon
Valley since 1985. Since SunPower is the supplier for solar plant, it has a total solar energy
generated of more than 18,000,000-megawatt hour (MWh) with more than 750 patents for
solar technology. Furthermore, this company also diversified global portfolio leading
residential, commercial and utility solar energy markets which leads them as the world's
highest efficiency solar panels featuring SunPower® Maxeon® cell technology.

Other than that, SunPower is the number one for United States commercial solar
provider based on 2017 capacity of on-site projects. However, with all the recognitions it
actually took more than 30 years of designing and manufacturing the best solar products and
solutions worldwide to earn that ranking. This solar industry has been recognized by its unique
business model of selling both directly to customers and through a carefully vetted network of
local dealers, an approach that offers many advantages to anyone buying solar technology.
This allows to serve and partner with large national brands and organizations that might have
multiple locations, but also nimble enough to understand the regional nuances that are
relevant to local businesses such as weather patterns, local policies and unique utility markets.

It is understandable that this comprehensive view of the marketplace and the report
designates SunPower as “the clear leader” when it comes to commercial solar. This grants
the company where they get an experienced and committed partner with industry-leading
technology such as breakthrough PV technology and SunPower® Helix™ Storage, extensive
partnerships and a proven track record of solving some of the most challenging solar projects
across the last three decades. With more than 9.2 gigawatts installed worldwide and more
than $10 billion financed, it is no wonder SunPower is the trusted commercial solar provider
for so many forward-thinking organizations.

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5.0 THE PARAMETERS THAT FOCUSSED TO REMOVE

In Sunpower, Melaka, the company mainly manufacture the solar panels that made by
crystalline silicon. There are many types of the solar panels that had been manufactured by
Sunpower basically are monocrystalline and polycrystalline. As they are the company that
manufacture the solar panels, there must be some chemical involve to make and manufacture
the solar panels. Thus, the chemical waste generated by the production and manufacture the
panels must be treated before being discharge to the effluent. Mainly, the parameter that
focussed to remove in the production and manufacture which is concentration of the
chemicals.

The based chemical waste generated by the manufacturing of the solar panels is
silicon. The chemical waste generated generally will be disposed via air, water and land
disposal. In this case, the waste basically is in the liquid form which can be treated and
discharge via water. For this, the company had own their wastewater treatment plant which to
recovering the metals and solvent from the waste generated. liquid waste usually need to be
treat with the other chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid to make sure
the pH and concentration of the heavy metals in the water are meet to the Department of
Environment (DOE) standard.

Other than that, the waste generated basically contain high amount of toxicity will give
harmful to the environment, humans and other living things. There are the control room to
monitor the concentration and the pH of the water. If there is unusual amount of concentration
waste such as heavy that generated or the pH value, there were also the manual water
treatment plant which is a lab scale for the technician to monitor. Therefore a Sunpower which
is the big company need to build their own wastewater treatment plant because it will highly
cost if not treated by their own. So that, the concentration of chemical waste can be treated
and always been monitored to be not more than the standard of DOE before it been discharge.

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6.0 HOW THE VISIT RELEVANT TO YOU

Site visits are an important part of the learning process. Visiting real time wastewater
plant allow students to develop a greater outstanding of how wastewater treatment is put into
the industrial scale. A typical of the site visit which is involve a presentation from the team, a
safety briefing and the tour of the wastewater plant. The Sunpower basically gives the students
experience of wastewater treatment process and exposure to the technical language of the
company. The visits allows students to learn more about the flow of the wastewater treatment
plant and the chemical waste practise that related to the living things, environment, and the
safety issues that need to be aware in the industry.

As for the students, there are always new knowledge that had been learnt from the site
visits which is new to see the industry work and exposure to the working lifestyle. Firstly, the
industry experiences the workplace that lead to the future after graduating and building the
career. It can be accidently of the study when the students experience the industry and work
vibes from the company. Other than that, the students have been infused in the various way
to the study such as process control of the plant. All the process in the big plant must be
control and monitor to make sure there is no unusual parameter from the process. As a
conclusion, the students need to expose themselves to the industry and experience the
working skills so it can be implemented after graduating from the school.

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