RICHMOND, British Columbia,
Feb. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire-iReach/ --
Saltworks Technologies achieved economic zero liquid discharge
(ZLD) at a US chemical plant, treating challenging saline
wastewater to 99.9% recovery. The chemicals facility engaged
Saltworks to rapidly deliver a pilot program that would remove salt
from their effluent, helping to meet a discharge cap on total
dissolved solids.
The team targeted the highest salinity stream in the plant for
salt removal. This concentrated stream, which also contained high
organics and biological growth potential, was poorly suited for
reverse osmosis (RO). Project leader Derek
Mandel commented, "RO is the workhorse of desalination and
we use it widely, however, the RO membrane fouling risk was too
high with this wastewater. Extensive and uneconomic pre-treatment
would have been required. This is why we worked with the client to
test the second most popular membrane desalter – EDR." EDR, or
electrodialysis reversal, is an established water technology with
more than half a century of industrial applications.
Saltworks' Flex EDR introduces three essential
innovations for EDR end users: (1) increased resilience via
Saltworks' IonFlux ion exchange membranes, which
withstand turbid waters and frequent bleach cleans to prevent
biological growth; (2) no need for chemical softening due to a
patented hardness blocker protecting electrodes; and (3)
process-control innovations to achieve higher recovery and optimize
performance when facing variable inlet water conditions.
Flex EDR successfully extracted 89% of the salt load, surpassing
the 75% goal. This de-risks the plant's water balance and permit
obligations. Downstream of Flex EDR, the concentrated brine was
treated with the SaltMaker Evaporator Crystallizer to achieve 99.9%
net water recovery in a modular package that produced solid
byproduct. The solids were sent to non-hazardous landfills for
safe, low-cost disposal.
This pilot demonstrated the economic and process advantages of
targeting concentrated streams for salt removal. Today, Saltworks
Technologies launches its Flex EDR product line – the next
generation electrodialysis reversal technology for challenging
waters:
- Flex EDR Organix desalinates produced water and wastewater
with high concentrations of organics, while removing the need for
extensive pretreatment.
- Flex EDR Selective pulls out monovalent ions with 98%
selectivity, so you can tune water chemistries to suit your
treatment needs and extract salts that deliver value.
- Flex EDR Ammonia offers a membrane treatment system for
reliable wastewater ammonia removal where biological systems
struggle to meet requirements.
About Saltworks Technologies
Saltworks Technologies treats the toughest water. Saltworks
delivers intelligent industrial desalination and zero liquid
discharge (ZLD) water treatment plants. We reliably separate out
the salt, so customers can focus on their core business.
Media Contact: Adrian
Ebsary, Saltworks Technologies, 604-628-6508 x210,
adrian.ebsary@saltworkstech.com
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SOURCE Saltworks Technologies