Reducing brine by 90% via
innovative water recycling

The new Dalu industrial park, covering an area of 50km, was in the process of expansion and planned to serve industrial plants handling coal deliverables. AST took on the pioneering project as a turnkey solution, from design to commissioning. The project was completed within 7 months and became fully operational for 1.5 years, demonstrating high potential cost savings. The permeate water was planned for park irrigation.

The industrial park was seeking a solution to minimize its brine evaporation ponds due to the large footprint and high disposal costs. AST was selected to conduct the recycling demonstration project due to its unique patented technology which would enable enhanced recovery, significant cost savings and a potentially reduced footprint.

AST designed, executed, commissioned and operated the plant – rapidly and successfully, in five stages: The first stage was media filtration, followed by Ultra-Filtration (UF). After a 3 staged BWRO (brackish water reverse osmosis), in the fourth stage the brine was treated via unique proprietary VSEP membranes technology (Vibratory Sheer Enhanced Process) as pretreatment. This was followed by the last – 5th stage – of high-pressure Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatment. The clean water was collected in the permeate tank while the brine was significantly reduced and returned to the pond.

Integration was complex due to multiple stages, and therefore required bold design, a highly experienced team and flawless execution. The brine was reduced to less than 10%, eliminating 90% of the original brine quantity, saving hassle and cost, while producing high quality clean water, allowing optional park irrigation. Considered a pioneering pilot, this project was marked as a successful milestone by the customer and was visited by senior ministers of transportation at the Inner Mongolia government.