FGD Wastewater Treatment Testing Using a Saltworks Flex EDR Selective Technology
A 61-day, on-site pilot of Saltworks Technologies Inc.’s Flex EDR Selective (electrodialysis reversal system) technology was completed at the Water Research Center (located at Georgia Power’s Plant Bowen near Cartersville, Georgia) in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute, Southern Company, and U. S. Department of Energy. A unique characteristic of the Flex EDR technology is its ability to selectively remove chloride from a wastewater. In this project, flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater was tested. Because FGD operators often establish limits on chloride concentration levels based on FGD material of construction to initiate purge/blowdown cycles, the Flex EDR technology has the potential to enable higher scrubber water recycling. The piloted treatment technology demonstrated over a 90% recovery in a system that required a less complex pretreatment often associated with other water treatment approaches. Instead, chloride removal allows for an internal process recycle, which significantly decreases wastewater volume. The resulting products are a low chloride and cleaner water that can be either reused or potentially discharged and a concentrated calcium-chloride-rich brine that is suitable for further volume reduction or direct wastewater encapsulation.