INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER RECYCLING USING TWO ENERGY EFFICIENT SYSTEMS TO MAKE DISTILLED WATER

This article will describe two systems: one uses a unique mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) and the other uses multi-phase evaporation (ME) techniques to recycling industrial wastewater into distilled water. It will be demonstrated how these systems can use low quality waste steam while recovering more than 95%+ of the input energy required to distil water. The unique features of these systems are new techniques used to overcome the past problems of heat exchanger scaling and fouling with minimum chemical additions. Included in this talk are commercial scale applications that verify the performance of these unique design features.The ratio of unit energy requirement (kW-hr/1000 usgal) in relation to the influent total dissolved solids (ppm) (TDS) is analyzed. This ratio is used to compare energy efficiency of this technology to some of the more popular methods of water recycling (Reverse Osmosis (RO) & Crystallization). It shows the energy advantages of using these new systems on produced or wastewater with more than 2000 ppm TDS but less than saturated brines. In addition this ratio comparison shows that in certain situations, these systems can be used in series with RO and/or crystallization to achieve the best overall energy efficiency for recycling water, recovering valuable TDS or achieving zero liquid discharge (ZLD).The performance of these unique design features are verified in case study results of:A facility to maintain saturated salt cavern brine in above ground ponds in a wet climate will be documented.An operation that uses this technology to recycle produced water for a steam assisted gravity drain (SAGD) heavy oil production facility using waste heat for the energy to produce boiler feed water from the high TDS produced water. The recovered water is no longer being injected into a disposal well.An industrial wastewater treatment facility that reduces wastewater for disposal by 90%.This technical contribution these systems have for the Industrial Wastewater Industry is:a method of eliminating the disposal of contaminated water to the environmentAn economical system to recycle water from industrial operations by making boiler feed and cooling tower makeup water from wastewater at a low cost.This article will show that distilled water can be produced for a low cost and at the same time save on disposal costs.