Heartland Helps Steam Electric Power Plan Achieve Zero Liquid Discharge

EPA’s Steam Electric Power Effluent Limit Guidelines (ELGs) Final Rule for FGD wastewater was published April 2024. The rule focuses on zero liquid discharge (ZLD) for coal-fired powerplant Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) wastewater. Chemical precipitation & membrane filtration such as Reverse Osmosis (RO) is considered Best Available Technology (BAT) for FGD treatment. Subsequent RO brine disposal through evaporation can be utilized for further volume and cost reduction. The EPA anticipates that approximately 28 coal plants will be impacted by the upcoming regulation over next 5 years through incorporation of the rule into plant’s NPDES permit in the next renewal cycle.

The case study Heartland Water Technology Helps Steam Electric Power Plan Achieve Zero Liquid Discharge outlines the application of a Heartland Concentrator™ to treat Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) purge water. The intent of the project was to meet Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) regulatory targets using thermal evaporation.

The project came from a need to improve water treatment uptime, with the traditional treatment approach faced issues with low availability due to scaling and precipitated solids, leading to time-consuming and expensive maintenance.

The project showed excellent results within a month of installation. Successful improvements include:

• Successful treatment of FGD Blowdown

• Uptime improvement over traditional brine concentrators

• Water chemistry flexibility tolerance

• Operational flexibility

Read Heartland’s case study to learn more about the project background, challenges and results.