ENCON Wastewater Evaporator vs. Ultrafilters

Enactment of the 1973 Federal Clean Water Act, forced the development of new technologies to improve the effectiveness of cleaning industrial waste water. Efforts within filtration technology resulted in the development of micro-filter and ultrafilter membranes.

These membranes could be used to separate very fine suspended or un-dissolved contaminants from water. Over time, ultrafilters have also gained some acceptance relative to the separation of oil from water in oily emulsions.

It is important to note that selection of the correct ultrafilter membrane is critical to the successful removal of targeted contaminants from water. Selection of the wrong membrane can result in ineffective removal of contaminants or irreversible fouling, which may result in an expensive membrane replacement.

Similar to the chemical treatment alternative, the selective nature of membranes (i.e. different membranes are required to handle removal of different contaminants) is limiting compared to evaporation.

Evaporation Comparison

ENCON Wastewater Evaporators can handle a wide range of different waste streams and contaminants without altering the operation of the system or having concern relative to causing irreparable damage to the system. Other advantages of evaporation over ultra-filtration include:

• Elimination of the hassle and expense of monitoring the discharge effluent.
• Membranes do not completely address emulsified oils, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), or dissolved solids.
• Each cleaning cycle causes deterioration of the membrane, which increases the percentage of pass through and potential membrane rupture.
• Evaporation can handle a wide range of different wastewater streams at the same time.
• Reject from membranes is typically greater than the residue from an evaporator, resulting in higher disposal volumes and costs.
• Evaporation is a simple technology that requires minimal manpower. Membrane systems tend to be more complex and finicky.

The following is a summary of total operating costs for the ENCON Wastewater Evaporator and UF alternatives based on projected volumes of 100,000 gallons/ year and other reasonable assumptions:

NOTES:

1. UF utility cost is based on an assumed electrical cost of approximately $0.02/gallon of water processed.

2. Gas cost for the evaporator is based on an assumed gas cost of $0.55/CCF.

3. Manpower for Evaporator is based on 1 hour/week and UF is based on 8 hours/week at a burden rate of $25/hr.

4. Lab analysis cost for permeate from UF is based on $750/quarter.

5. Residue disposal is based on 93% reduction for the evaporator and 85% reduction for UF with a disposal cost of $0.55/gallon.

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