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Ethel, the first BeneVap was built to fill a specific role but that has since been expanded. Many small ponds were built for the exploration of coal seam gas (CSG) reserves across remote regions in eastern Australia. The produced water from CSG was saline. As the ponds evaporated the salts became more concentrated and filled with debris. Weeds, wind-blown dust, algae and even dead animals collected in them. Government regulations required that once exploration ceased, these ponds must be emptied and the sites rehabilitated. In some cases the water could be hauled by truck to larger aggregation ponds but it was costly and there were restrictions on its transportation outside developmental areas. It was too saline for irrigation and too dirty for other treatment processes. BeneTerra sought a simple, mobile means to treat the water in these widely scattered ponds, either to irrigation standards or reduce the volume significantly or eliminate it altogether. Submerged combustion, invented in the 1920’s for cracking crude oil, presented a viable alternative. The BeneTerra team tried to purchase the technology in North America but the suppliers were unwilling to sell and service equipment as far away as Australia. Convinced of the need for such a device, BeneTerra engaged a team of Australian engineers, combustion specialists and a metal fabricator to build this first machine in 2013. It was originally called the EVC, short for evapo-concentrator, and was affectionately named Ethel the EVC. A variety of innovations and processes have been developed from using Ethel at various locations. Mobility has been the key to encountering these situations. Ethel has been used to reduce highly CSG saline water to pure sodium chloride salt and convert dilute leachate contaminated stormwater to vapour and more. Ethel’s flexibility to handle differing water quality and multiple fuels has been exceptional. Modes of operation have consisted of both batch and continuous processes. Fuel sources have consisted of diesel fuel, waste oil or landfill biogas. Ethel was originally placed upon a semi trailer and was moved around to various CSG sites drying up exploration ponds. In 2017 following Cyclone Debbie, Ethel got her first taste of landfill leachate near Brisbane. Then she did a stint in the Atherton Tablelands and at a landfill in Australia’s Northern Territory. Finally after ten years moving about Australia, she was updated and refurbished. Ethel was then placed upon a permanent stand alongside a more modern counterpart at a Queensland landfill where she is fueled by landfill gas to vapourise leachate . |
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