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Zero Liquid Discharge System

Overview
The Aqua-Chem ICD Zero Liquid Discharge System is a fully integrated automated system incorporating a mechanical
vapor compression brine concentrator, a forced circulation crystallizer, and solids dewatering. High purity distillate
produced in this system can be used for cooling tower or boiler makeup water.

The Aqua-Chem ICD Zero Liquid Discharge System typically follows a reverse osmosis (RO) preconcentrator. High TDS
and saturation in low solubility scaling salts such as calcium sulfate (CaSO4) and silica (SiO2) limit the percentage of water
which can be recovered by an RO system. Feedwater saturated in CaSO4 and/or SiO2 is also very difficult to concentrate
in a normal evaporator but can be handled in the Aqua-Chem ICD brine concentrator. The process, also called seeded
slurry evaporation, involves establishing and maintaining a slurry of calcium sulfate seed crystals in the circulating brine in
the evaporator. With careful thermal and mechanical design, the SiO2 and CaSO4 will precipitate preferentially on the
recirculating crystals instead of on the tubes. The brine concentrator is capable of concentrating the wastewater to near
saturation in the sodium salts without scaling the heat transfer tubes.

The remaining water is evaporated in the forced circulation crystallizer. This evaporator easily handles the crystallization
of the remaining salts regardless of the exact chemical analysis. The salts are removed as a cake by a (filter press,
centrifuge).

The Aqua-Chem ICD Zero Liquid Discharge System is designed for automatic steady state operation and will require little
operator attention. The materials of construction have been selected to resist corrosion and ensure a long plant life. The
system is very reliable. The pumps and compressor typically operate years without significant problems, given periodic
maintenance typical for rotating equipment. Almost any problem can be fixed in a day. The system is designed to
minimize scaling of the heat transfer surfaces; however, it is also designed to operate in a slightly fouled condition, so
normal fouling or scaling will not affect the design capacity of the unit. Chemical cleaning of the system is typically
required once or twice per year.

Process Description
The feed is acidified with H2SO4 to a pH of 5.5 which converts bicarbonate to dissolved CO2 for removal in the deaerator.
The bicarbonate is removed to prevent scaling of the brine concentrator tubes with calcium carbonate (CaCO3 ). A small
amount of scale inhibitor is metered into the feed to avoid scaling in the feed/distillate plate heat exchanger. Depending on
the amount of calcium in the feed, the anti-scale may be reduced or eliminated.

The feed/distillate heat exchanger, a plate and frame type with titanium plates, preheats the feed with outgoing hot
distillate. The heated feed flows to the deaerator to remove dissolved carbon dioxide and oxygen, to minimize corrosion in
the system. Aqua-Chem ICD uses a flashing deaerator which does not utilize packing, thereby avoiding plugging
problems. The feed is sprayed into the pressurized, barometric half of the deaerator which further heats the feed with low
pressure evaporator vent vapors. The feed then flashes into the low pressure portion of the deaerator. A small fraction of
water from the feed is vaporized, along with the dissolved carbon dioxide and oxygen, which are virtually eliminated by
this step. Typical dissolved oxygen content in the deaerated feed is 10 ppb.

The feed then flows to the brine concentrator vessel. Calcium sulfate scale is managed in this vessel by proper feed
pretreatment and by providing adequate seed crystal surface area dispersed homogeneously in the brine slurry. The seed
crystals prevent supersaturation extremes and promote crystal growth rather than scaling on the heat transfer surface.

Aquatech International Corporation

One-Four Coins Drive; Canonsburg, PA 15317 USA t) 724 746 5300 f) 724 746 5359
 www.aquatech.com

The seed crystals are added as gypsum to the seed makeup tank at startup to establish the circulating slurry. As the brine
is concentrated and some is pumped to the crystallizer, seed crystals are replenished by natural generation from calcium
and sulfate ions in the incoming feed water. A seed thickening tank is provided to recycle seed crystals back into the brine
concentrator if the natural seeding level is too low. A CaCl2 injection system is provided to add Ca+2 directly into the feed
line if the incoming Ca+2 concentration is too low. Both of these systems are used to maintain adequate seed crystal
concentration in the brine concentrator.

The brine concentrator vessel is designed with a long bottom channel to provide sufficient residence time for crystal
growth. A vapor separator with mist eliminators is used to remove entrained droplets of brine from the vapor before it
flows to the compressor. The mist eliminators are periodically sprayed with hot distillate to dissolve any accumulated
solids.

Vapor generated in the brine concentrator flows to a mechanical compressor, which increases its saturation pressure and
temperature. Then the compressed vapor flows to the shell side of the brine concentrator in lieu of external heating steam.
The vapor is condensed on the outside of the tubes, transferring heat to the circulating brine on the tubeside. Condensed
vapor (distillate) is pumped out of the system. Some of the distillate is sprayed into the compressor discharge duct to
desuperheat the compressed vapor.

The brine concentrator is designed with a very low delta-T (temperature difference between the heating medium and the
boiling brine) and a high recirculation rate. The two main benefits are reduced scaling rate and a lower compressor power
requirement. Energy economy is maximized by utilizing distillate and vent stream heat. The system is designed for low
make-up steam at steady state operation.

The brine is concentrated to approximately 25% total solids in the brine concentrator. To maintain a solids balance in the
system, part of the concentrated brine is continuously pumped from the brine concentrator to the forced circulation
crystallizer.

Recirculated brine is pumped through the forced circulation heat exchanger where it is heated with steam from the brine
concentrator to above its normal boiling temperature. Boiling of the brine in the heat exchanger is suppressed due to
sufficient static head. Boiling in the heat exchanger would cause scale formation on the heat transfer surface. The heated
brine then enters a flash tank operating at a slightly lower pressure, causing flash evaporation of water and formation of
salt crystals in the brine. High recirculation rates are used to keep the contact time on the heated surface low, reducing
the scaling rate of the heat transfer surface.

Once every eight hours the a batch of slurry is discharged from the crystallizer to the filter press feed tank. This slurry is
fed to the filter press, which separates out the salt crystals as a cake. The liquid portion, saturated in dissolved salts, is
returned to the forced circulation crystallizer. The salt cake is dumped at 8 hour intervals into a hopper for disposal. This
sequence is manually initiated, and requires an operator to be present to assure that the plates have properly released
the salt cake.

Vertical Tube Falling Film Evaporator (Brine Concentrator)

Falling film vertical tube evaporators use vertical tube bundles with brine evaporating from a thin film on the inside of the
tubes. Brine is distributed in a thin film down the inside of the tubes. The brine absorbs heat from condensing water vapor
on the outside of the tubes. The latent heat of vaporization transfers from the water vapor through the tube wall to the thin
brine film on the inside of the tube. For every kilogram of water vapor that condenses, approximately one kilogram of
water is evaporated from the brine film.

Aquatech International Corporation

One-Four Coins Drive; Canonsburg, PA 15317 USA t) 724 746 5300 f) 724 746 5359
 www.aquatech.com

The vapor condensing on the tube bundle is primarily water vapor but can also contain air and other non-condensables.
These non-condensables will stay in the vicinity of the tube walls and impede heat transfer unless swept away by
sufficiently high vapor velocities. A vent on the evaporator body continuously removes the non-condensables to maintain
high heat transfer coefficients and to prevent loss of driving force (differential temperature) through excess subcooling of
the heating vapor.

The brine is introduced at the top of the vessel and flows in a downward direction as a falling film. The brine is uniformly
and generously directed to the full circumference of each tube as a thin film. Because the recirculation rate is many times
greater than the evaporation rate, only a small change in concentration occurs down the tube length as evaporation takes
place. The recirculation rate is chosen conservatively to ensure that the heat transfer surface is well wetted and localized
drying is not encountered.

A proprietary dual perforated plate distributor ensures that the liquid is evenly distributed to the tubes. The plates have
holes larger than 13 mm and have been proven to be much less susceptible to plugging than other designs including
individual weir inserts or swirler inserts.

Careful design eliminates areas where the solids and impurities may collect and impede liquid flow and heat transfer.
Design features include large holes in the distribution system, sloped bottoms, and smooth entrance to pump suctions.

Mechanical Vapor Compression (VC)

Vapor compression is a highly efficient process using mechanical energy input to achieve evaporation and condensation.
The fundamental difference between the vapor compression unit and the conventional evaporator is that the latent heat of
vaporization is fully utilized in the VC evaporator. Since the evaporator also serves as the condenser, essentially all of the
latent heat is recycled, with no rejection of heat to cooling water.

The evaporated vapor flows through the mist eliminator to the suction of the compressor. The compressor does work on
the water vapor increasing the saturation pressure of the water vapor so that when it condenses, it does so at a higher
temperature. The compressed vapor flows to the heating side of the evaporator. As it condenses, it transfers the latent
heat of vaporization back to the liquid film on the tubeside.

The compression process produces discharge vapors that are superheated (i.e. hotter than the corresponding saturation
temperature). Scaling, excessive fouling, and stress corrosion can occur if the superheated vapor is allowed to condense
on the evaporator tube bundle. This scaling would occur as the sensible heat is transferred through the tube. To remove
the superheat in the compressed vapor discharge, desuperheating water (in the form of distillate) is sprayed into the vapor
stream. This distillate is very near the saturation temperature so latent heat is not removed from the vapor stream and can
be used for the evaporation process.

A multi-stage centrifugal blower is used for the brine concentrator. It is coupled to a motor-driven gearbox. This type of
compressor is very simple and easy to maintain. System turndown is achieved by the adjustment of the blower discharge
damper valve. Turndown to 65% of rated capacity can be attained in this manner.

Control
The system is designed for automatic cascade control. Evaporation rate in the brine concentrator is based on an operator
setpoint. The damper valve at the compressor discharge controls vapor flow to the brine concentrator based on the
distillate flow rate out of the system. All other flow rates automatically adjust based on this setpoint. The feed rate is based
on distillate outflow and brine level in the brine concentrator. Pressure (and indirectly temperature) in the brine
concentrator is controlled by venting excess steam to the atmosphere or by allowing external steam into the system. The

Aquatech International Corporation

One-Four Coins Drive; Canonsburg, PA 15317 USA t) 724 746 5300 f) 724 746 5359
 www.aquatech.com

concentrated brine flow rate is remotely set based on feed and distillate flows. Operational parameters of system
pressure, sump level, distillate level, and concentrate flow will be automatically controlled based on changes to the
desired evaporation rate.

Operation
The system is designed for manual start-up and automatic operation. The feed chemistry should be monitored
periodically. Sufficient safeguards and interlocks to prevent unsafe conditions or equipment damage are included in this
design. When the system is shut down it is important to either keep the system pressurized with steam to keep oxygen out
or drain and flush the system to remove the chlorides. Chlorides in the presence of oxygen will accelerate corrosion and
reduce equipment life.

Maintenance
The required maintenance for this Aqua-Chem ICD Zero Liquid Discharge System is typical for commercial process
equipment containing high quality industrial duty components. The unit's rotating equipment, such as pumps and
compressors, require periodic adjustment, lubrication, and servicing of components such as seals. Instrumentation was
specifically chosen to be durable and trouble free, but will require periodic adjustment and recalibration. If recommended
spare parts are kept on hand and a preventative maintenance program is implemented, then the net availability (operating
factor) can be expected to exceed 95%. The required maintenance procedures, recommended spare parts, and
recommended preventative maintenance program will be provided by Aqua-Chem ICD.

Washing
The heat transfer surface has been designed to operate at capacity with lightly scaled heat transfer surfaces. An
occasional manual adjustment of the compressor valve will maintain the system capacity as the evaporators slowly scales
and loses performance. When this valve has been fully opened and the necessary capacity can no longer be maintained,
a chemical wash will be required to restore performance. A complete chemical cleaning procedure will normally take
between 12 and 24 hours. The evaporators are normally cleaned by recirculating a hot 10% EDTA solution (diluted Nalco
760 for example) with the recirculation pumps. The cleaning solution is injected into the recirculation line. The solution is
°
maintained hot (70 C) by using a small amount of steam flow through existing controls. Cleaning frequency for an
evaporator of this type is typically once or twice per year.

It may be economical to hydroblast prior to cleaning with EDTA. This reduces the amount of EDTA required. We
recommend a professional hydroblast crew do this work. Two 600 mm manholes on the top channel facilitate easier
distribution plate removal and tube blasting.

Materials of Construction
Due to the relatively high chloride content the major vessels wetted materials are 6% molybdenum stainless steel such as
254 SMO or AL6XN. Tubes are titanium grade 2. Other materials used for brine service include fiberglass, CD4MCu,
Hastelloy C, and 316L Stainless Steel as applicable. Use of these materials will assure equipment life beyond 20
operating years.

Spare Parts
Installing spare pumps in brine service would lead to stagnant areas and potential corrosion. Considering the high
reliability of these pumps, it is better not to install spares but keep shelf spares. In the event a pump replacement is
necessary, the feed storage tank would be used to collect the feed flow as it would be when the unit was shut down for
cleaning. Upon startup the excess capacity designed into the unit will process the stored feed.

Aquatech International Corporation

One-Four Coins Drive; Canonsburg, PA 15317 USA t) 724 746 5300 f) 724 746 5359