Zero Liquid Discharge for Environmental Protection
15 Jan 2018
A global environmental awareness and focus on conserving water and water pollution has led to increasingly stringent regulations on the use and discharge of industrial water. Our zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technologies provide efficient and environmentally friendly wastewater processing systems that improve in-plant water reuse, enhance product recovery and convert a fluid discharge to non-liquid waste.
GEA developed a hybrid ZLD process for a molybdenum production facility. The wastewater contains various sulfates and sodium chloride. With a wastewater capacity of up to 110 cubic meters per hour, the process consists of a brine purification pretreatment section. That is followed by a reverse osmosis pre-concentration unit and subsequent concentration in a falling film evaporator driven by mechanical vapor recompression. Crystallization and solid separation completes the process, which produces pure water for reuse in the production.
Recycling used water is environmentally friendly
Running successfully and showing excellent results, critical compound concentrations (fouling and incrustation forming components such as colloidal SiO2, Mn and Fe) have been reduced to below critical limits.
Water use and conservation is a key consideration for the global processing industries, particularly those affected by the scarcity of available water sources or suitable wastewater recipients.
We can supply complete ZLD lines comprising the key elements of centrifugal separation, membrane filtration, evaporation, crystallization and drying technologies, offering the following benefits:
- Meeting stringent discharge regulations
- Treating and recovering valuable product from waste streams
- Better management of internal process water streams
- Reducing the need to draw fresh water
- Minimizing energy consumption, transportation and disposal costs
- Use of corrosion-resistant materials
- Installation of advanced automation systems.
