Landfill leachate and industrial effluent treatment using advanced evaporation technology

Abstract

Evaporation is one of the most efficient methods for separation of dissolved solids and water. Using evaporation, high quality, recyclable or dischargeable water can be produced. An advanced evaporation technology for industrial effluent and landfill leachate treatment has been developed. Construction material of the evaporative heat transfer surface is the key difference to conventional systems: thin, corrosion resistant and elastic polymeric film is used instead of rigid metals. The cost of the polymeric surface is low, decreasing the high costs that are associated with conventional evaporators. Thus, evaporation is now a feasible alternative in a number of effluent treatment applications. The technology applies Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) concept using electrical energy or Multi-Effect (ME) concept utilizing waste heat as energy source. In both concepts the evaporative surface areas are larger than in conventional systems. As a result of the large surface electrical energy consumption is low in the MVR-type evaporators, typically 8-12 kWh/m³ of recovered water; in ME-type evaporators the large area enables the utilization of low value waste heat in an efficient way.