Power Plant Applications

VACOM SYSTEMS™

Power Plant Applications

There are many areas at a coal fired power plant where treatment through thermal evaporation is a good decision. Among these are flue gas desulfurization, combustion residual leachate and bottom ash transport water. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking charge in these areas through the promulgating of new Effluent Limit Guidelines (ELGs) which necessitate that electric steam (coal fired) power plants meet new discharge limits to stay in operation. The new discharge limits are deemed necessary to protect our nation’s vital water resources, agriculture, industry, recreation activities and thriving community activities. The new ELG’s indicate that thermal evaporation will now be considered “Best Available Technology” (BAT). In other words, the ELG’s will mandate treating wastewater to Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) standards.

Vacom Systems™ unique evaporation / crystallization technology is considered BAT by EPA standards. Vacom’s next generation technology is a dramatically more efficient and cost-effective single step process that its competitors cannot match.

The Vacom One-Step!™ is a patent pending technology that cleans wastewater into two by-products: pure water and crystallized solids. Its pioneering design combines multiple processes required by competing systems into a single treatment step.

Compared to its competitors, The Crystallizer presents impressive advantages:

Vacom in Flue Gas Desulfurization Blowdown:

Vacom’s One-Step™ system circulates at extremely high rates relative to the evaporation rate, which provides tremendous heat transfer in a turbulent flow regime resulting in smaller heat exchangers, no scaling or fouling of the heat exchanger plates, and concentrating past the salt saturation levels to precipitate crystals allowing for an efficient ZLD operation.

Coal Fired Power plants are under increasing regulations to utilize technologies that reduce salt levels from wastewater.
A Vacom system crystalizes and concentrates the FGD blowdown lower than other technologies.
A true ZLD solution is achievable when Vacom concentrate is managed through a filtration technology, which provides smaller volumes for landfill stabilization and reduces the usage of pacash, flyash, lime or other stabilization amendments needed to ensure the final concentrate passes landfill leachate requirements.
Additionally, a smaller concentrate volume means a higher overall distillate recovery that can be reused at the plant.

Power Plant Applications

Power Plant Applications

VACOM SYSTEMS™

Power Plant Applications

Footprint is reduced up to 90%

Capital costs are up to 60% less

Problems common in other processes (principally scaling and fouling) are eliminated

Lower operational costs, less maintenance costs and less downtime

Vacom in Flue Gas Desulfurization Blowdown:

Vacom can also treat Power Plant Cooling Tower Blowdown: