End-of-Pipe Zero Liquid Discharge Networks for different brine water qualities

摘要

More often than not, wastewater generated from any sort of industrial process poses a problem in terms of disposal cost and hazardous environmental impact.Systems that seek to eliminate wastewater discharge from any given process are known as Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems.Such systems, often composed of a combination of different technologies, aim to minimize wastewater volume and maximize the amount of water that can be recovered.Economically speaking, it is challenging to alter existing processes in a way that can achieve zero discharge.End-of-pipe ZLD systems provide an intermediate solution, whereby additional units can be added, forgoing the need for structural change in the existing process.In addition, environmental discharge standards can be satisfied.This paper presents an overarching ZLD network structure and model that can be customized to yield a cost-effective end-of-pipe ZLD discharge system based on user specified data and conditions.In particular, this paper focuses on the design of different End-of-pipe ZLD systems using brine wastewater data from two different industries: i) wastewater from a coal seam gas plant, and ii) wastewater from a steel plating industry.