How Can You Achieve Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)?

Learn how wastewater can be processed to create high purity water for reuse, and thus achieving zero liquid discharge.

This in-depth explanation provides insight into SUEZ's use of brine evaporator and forced circulation crystallizer.  This technology can help meet wastewater treatment regulations and reduce water usage.

Source: SUEZ

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Taxonomy

• Wastewater Treatment
• Waste to Value
• Zero Discharge
• Brine Discharge Modeling & Analysis
• Zero Liquid Discharge plants
• Zero Liquid Discharge
• Waste Management

3 Comments

1. Very outdated and very costly

2. This is old technology , the question is how does the CAPEX/OPEX  for this thermal desalination plant compare to reverse osmosis?

   1 Comment reply

   1. 18 years ago during the "Enron era" gas-fired power plant boom in the US there were many ZLD plants installed for cooling tower blowdown treatment.  At the time, we bid both specified MVC evaporator + crystallizer combinations with an alternative using crossflow MF softening followed by RO (actually brackish RO + seawater RO in series) plus crystallizer, no evaporator.  The alternative was typically half of the CAPEX and OPEX cost of the evaporator plus crystallizer combo, but difficult to sell since it required more O&M attention (feed precipitation chemicals, sludge dewatering, membrane maintenance, operator attention). 

      Crossflow MF membranes work well for producing high quality pre-treated water prior to RO when chemical precipitation is required to reduce hardness and silica.  I wouldn't use anything else ahead of an RO if the feedwater is CT blowdown containing sequesterants that inhibit scale since they make operation of a conventional reactor-clarifier softener very difficult.  Crossflow MF also very efficiently uses Mg salts to remove silica than conventional reactor-clarifiers.  

3. Having clean potable drinking water is always a good choice. I am not sure that attempting to copy natures natural process using mechanical monsters is the efficient and cost effective move.  If the system can run on its own power and can be used as an emergency backup plan that would make the cost bearable.   Just a little hint: during the decomposing event using microbes the electrons released can be collected and  this electricity can be used insitu.  Not 100% of your needs. But waste not want not.  (biogenerator).