ZERO BRINE is a European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 Innovation Action project that advances circular economy business model solutions by redesigning the value chains of industrial wastewater. Coordinated by TU Delft with 22 partners from 10 countries, the €11 million project aims to close the water cycle by recovering and reusing the minerals and water from the brine (saline-impaired effluents) of process industries over four years beginning June 2017. ZERO BRINE will implement four large-scale demonstrations at industrial sites: a water plant in the Netherlands, a silica factory in Spain, a coal mine in Poland and a textile factory in Turkey.
The concept of the ZERO BRINE project
The process industry is the major source of chloride releases in Europe, with the chemical industry representing the vast majority at 11.5 million tons/year. These releases are complex effluents and represent a big challenge for companies in terms of management and costs. The concept of the ZERO BRINE project is to close the loop of these particularly problematic effluents by developing the necessary concepts, technological solutions and business models, while eliminating wastewater discharge and minimizing the environmental impact of industrial operations through brines, i.e., zero brine. The materials to be recovered include minerals (for example, sodium chloride and magnesium hydroxide), regenerated acids, caustics and water. These materials will be recycled in the same process industries that produce the brines (internal valorization) and other process industries that do not produce these streams (external valorization).
“The concept of the ZERO BRINE project is to close the loop of problematic effluents by developing concepts, technological solutions and business models, while eliminating wastewater discharge and minimizing the environmental impact of industrial operations through brines.”
A large-scale demonstration plant will be developed in the energy port and petrochemical cluster of Rotterdam Port in the Netherlands, involving large local industries. The plant will be able to treat part of the brine effluents generated by a demineralized water supplier (Evides Industriewater), while waste heat will be sourced by neighboring factories. For demineralized water production, softening of raw water is required, which is often performed by ion exchange units. During this process, the hardness ions, namely calcium and magnesium, are exchanged with sodium ions. The ion exchange unit needs to be regenerated before used again, using a solution of sodium chloride (NaCl). In the demonstration plant, the chemicals needed to regenerate the softening units will be recovered from the brine effluent (internal valorization). At the same time, other valuable minerals are produced with cross-fertilization opportunities for other supply chains.
Replicable and scalable
The ZERO BRINE large-scale demonstration plants provide the potential for immediate replication and uptake of the project results after its successful completion. Industrial symbiosis will play a key role in cutting down costs as well as environmental impacts through waste heat recovery. To facilitate market uptake, ZERO BRINE is developing an online brine platform to connect industry, technology providers and end users. This digital platform will advance the industrial cooperation in Europe and worldwide, provide effective brine treatment solutions to process industries and ensure extensive knowledge exchange and dialogue between key stakeholders. In addition, five Brine Excellence Centers integrated in partner organizations in the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Poland and Spain will provide the opportunity for end users to test and develop customized and validated brine treatment solutions.