Recover valuable salts from high-TDS industrial wastewater through evaporation, crystallisation, and solid-liquid separation — turning waste into byproducts.
High-salinity industrial wastewater from food processing (cheese brine, pickle liquor), chemical manufacturing, and water treatment (RO concentrate) contains recoverable salts. Rather than disposing these as hazardous waste, salt recovery uses thermal or mechanical evaporation to concentrate brine, followed by crystallisation and separation to produce purified salt. This reduces disposal requirements, generates output from salt sales, and enables zero-liquid-discharge (ZLD) systems.
Recovered NaCl, CaCl2, and mixed salts sold for road de-icing, chemical feedstock, or agriculture.
Eliminates liquid brine disposal. Crystallised solids are stable, storable, and transportable.
Uses waste heat from boilers, WAO, or other processes. MVR evaporators achieve near-ZLD with minimal energy.
Final step in zero-liquid-discharge systems, handling the concentrated brine that membranes cannot treat.
Step-by-step breakdown of the treatment process from influent to effluent.
RO or NF concentrates brine to 5-10% TDS, minimising thermal evaporator size. Anti-scalant prevents CaSO4 and CaCO3 scaling.
Multi-effect evaporator (MEE) or mechanical vapour recompression (MVR) evaporator concentrates brine to 20-30% solids. Steam or electricity drives evaporation.
Brine further concentrated in crystallizer (forced circulation or draft tube) until salt crystals nucleate and grow. Mother liquor recycled.
Centrifuge or pusher centrifuge separates crystals from mother liquor. Wash water purifies crystal surface. Moisture <3% in product.
Dried salt packaged in bulk bags or sold loose. Purity 85-99% depending on source. Mother liquor returned to crystallizer or disposed.
Explore the equipment components that make this process effective.
Mechanical vapour recompression evaporator with 95% energy efficiency vs steam.
Decanter or pusher centrifuge for crystal separation and dewatering.
Brine concentrator pre-treatment before thermal evaporation.
Anti-scalant and pH control for evaporator protection.
Recover NaCl from cheese making brine for reuse or road salt sale.
Recover valuable salts (Na2SO4, NaCl) from chemical manufacturing effluent.
Treat reverse osmosis concentrate that would otherwise be discharged as brine.
Recover salts from wet air oxidation effluent after organics destruction.
This treatment stage is engineered to achieve specific contaminant removal targets while providing stable, predictable performance across variable inlet conditions. Design parameters are calculated from wastewater characterisation data, regulatory requirements, and site-specific constraints including footprint, energy availability, and operator capability.
Design validated by CFD modelling and pilot testing to confirm performance guarantees.
Equipment selected for 20-year design life with minimal wearing parts and easy access.
Automated dosing and feedback control minimise reagent consumption and sludge production.
Online monitoring and data logging demonstrate continuous consent compliance.
| Design Flow | 10 – 5,000 m³/h (application specific) |
| Inlet Variability | Designed for 1:3 peak-to-average flow ratio |
| Removal Efficiency | 85 – 99% depending on target contaminant |
| Hydraulic Retention | Calculated from kinetic constants and safety factors |
| Power Consumption | 0.5 – 5.0 kWh/100 m³ (process dependent) |
| Chemical Dose | Auto-controlled based on online analysers |
| Sludge Production | 0.2 – 1.5 kg DS/kg contaminant removed |
| Materials | SS304, SS316L, or carbon steel with coating |
No treatment stage operates in isolation. This process is designed to receive conditioned influent from upstream stages and deliver effluent quality suitable for downstream processes. Hydraulic and organic loading rates are balanced across the complete treatment train to prevent bottlenecking and ensure overall plant efficiency. Our engineers model the complete flowsheet to optimise Capital expenditure and Operating expenditure across the plant lifecycle.
Screening, equalisation, and pre-treatment protect this stage from damage and overload.
Effluent quality ensures downstream biology, filtration, or disinfection performs optimally.
Reject streams, filtrate, and centrate are routed back to appropriate upstream points.
Our engineers design and commission complete treatment systems including all equipment, automation, and commissioning support.
Our expertise spans multiple industries with sector-specific water treatment solutions.