News

Optimize Existing Water Plant Assets With ScaleSense

Photo of a ScaleSense real-time sensor analyzer for scaling ions

Optimize Existing Water Plant Assets With ScaleSense

New Technology in Challenging Times

April 27th, 2020

Announcing ScaleSense

Optimizing existing water treatment assets is the lowest cost path to incremental water production and reducing residual waste. However, many of the tools needed had not been developed—until now.

 

Saltworks announces ScaleSense: our real-time, ion-specific sensor that works on saline waters, i.e. brines. By measuring scaling species live, ScaleSense enables users to optimize processes in real time as conditions change—without the need for human intervention, lab work, or guesswork.

Photo of a ScaleSense real-time sensor/analyzer for scaling ions

ScaleSense Applications

 With ScaleSense, it is now possible to lower capital and operational expenditure by:
  • Running reverse osmosis systems closer to their peak recovery and automatically changing that recovery as inlet water chemistry shifts, without putting membranes at risk or generating surplus brine.
  • Operating cooling towers at higher cycles, saving water usage and reducing blowdown.
  • Optimizing chemical loading and sludge production of chemical softening systems
  • Partially bypassing and blending sulfate treatment processes
We are excited to see what other solutions people imagine as we release this novel product. We developed the ScaleSense ion sensor to work without interference from other ions. We tried other solutions, but their accuracy was inadequate for the complex waters we encountered in RO brines, cooling tower blowdown, power plant wastewater treatment, mine waters, and oil & gas.
Graphical image showing the scaling chemical species measurable with a ScaleSense real-time sensor analyzer

Measure Scaling Species in the Toughest Waters

ScaleSense can measure calcium (Ca2+), barium (Ba2+) or sulfate (SO42‑) ions, or silica (SiO2), in real-time and with repeatable accuracy. It can also measure TDS in extremely concentrated brines, where traditional conductivity meters flatline.

 

Check out our ScaleSense homepage to see sample use cases. We can package ScaleSense with our process engineering and control services, to enable customers to increase their plant smarts, improve recovery, uptime, data, and reduce waste.

Can you imagine a use for ScaleSense? Do you think you have incremental water “left on the table” that can be recovered? Contact us and let us figure it out.

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

Related Resources

Photo of a ScaleSense real-time sensor/analyzer for scaling ions
Article

Real-Time Sensing and Process Control: Introducing ScaleSense

Real-time measurement provides prompt feedback for controls. A real-time sensor can help to optimize your process, reduce risk, and minimize operational and maintenance demand. Saltworks has developed a new real-time sensor—that is simple and robust—to operate in the high-TDS range.

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New Membrane Brine Concentrator Plant Capable of Ultra High Recovery, PFAS Treatment, and More!

Photo of a Saltworks engineer working in a membrane pilot plant

New Membrane Brine Concentrator Capable of Ultra High Recovery, PFAS Treatment, and More!

Dec 17th, 2019

Saltworks has started commissioning what we believe is a first-of-its-kind plant, with much customer interest. The membrane concentrator makes extensive use of reverse osmosis – turbocharged.  The turbocharging relies on:

  • BrineRefine technology to remove scaling ions, enabling downstream processing at extremely high recoveries;
  • A novel real-time calcium sensor capable of operating on challenging flows (we developed our own after off-the-shelf sensors failed to meet requirements);
  • Ultra high-pressure reverse osmosis (RO) spiral wound technology, operating at 1,800 psi (120 bar); and
  • Expert engineering and production that integrates all technologies into a tidy, intelligent package capable of operating on variable industrial flows.

A photo of a Saltworks engineer inspecting pilot plant operations
Photo of a Saltworks engineer working in a membrane pilot plant

Together, these technologies can concentrate highly scaling brines to 130,000 mg/L total dissolved solids. This enables treating PFAS laden fluids, cooling tower blowdown, mine wastewaters, and other industrial saline waters. The plant truly minimizes brine volume sent to disposal or processed by more costly thermal technologies. In the case of PFAS, advanced oxidation or disposal may be employed downstream.

 

The plant was built with funding and technical input from a leading reverse osmosis membrane company.

 

Malcolm Man, Saltworks’ EVP, commented, “We have seen much customer demand from a wide range of industries for a proving plant that brings ultra high-pressure RO to the marketplace. Our clients seek to reduce brine volumes further, while using lower cost and lower energy off-the-shelf reverse osmosis technology. They now have a new option built into a plant that can accept and tolerate their scaling ions, chemistry variability, and robustness requirements.”

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

Related Resources

Diagram showing the chemical structures of PFOS and PFOA molecules
Application

PFAS Wastewater Treatment

Saltworks’ advanced technology treats PFAS wastewaters to each client’s specifications. Our solutions can integrate into existing or new wastewater processes.

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Boosting Oil Production through Water Treatment – A Pilot Proof Point

A photo of a custom designed and built produced water treatment pilot for an enhanced oil recovery pilot treatment application

Boosting Oil Production Through Water Treatment – A Pilot Proof Point

Nov 13th, 2019

The easy oil has been accessed.

 

Firms are increasingly turning to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to boost production. This involves pumping specialty concocted water chemistries underground to push out more oil.

 

EOR should not be confused with fracking. Fracking “vibrates” and opens reservoir passages in shale deposits. In certain types of EOR, a specialty formulated water is injected into what may have been a traditional reservoir, with the objective to “wash out” more oil. This limits surface impacts to the environment since well life can be extended, instead of drilling new wells. However, as the water travels through the reservoir it picks up underground salts, becoming saline. This added salinity hurts the specialty formulated water properties, increasing chemical costs drastically in the case of polymer flood.

Photo of an advanced membrane system pilot at an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) oil and gas site
Saltworks XtremeRO pilot operating at pilot site in Southern Alberta

Saltworks developed and delivered an EOR produced water pilot, that reliably desalted the returning produced water. This saves the client notable chemical costs: more than the cost of water treatment, in some cases. Saltworks can run a project assessment to evaluate each specific case.

 

In addition to the cost savings, the following benefits may be achieved:

  • Water is recycled in a closed loop, rather than discarded. This reduces both water loss to disposal wells and freshwater withdrawal from the environment
  • Higher quality water is re-injected, with lower hardness and suspended solids that can plug the formation
  • Less trucking and GHGs associated with chemical delivery to site, or hauling waste produced water off site when required

Photo of enhanced oil recovery produced water, before and after treatment
Pilot Water Samples. From left to right: Produced water, Filtrate, RO Brine, RO Permeate

The pilot operated at a live polymer flood oil field in Southern Alberta with over 97% uptime, unattended overnight, and managed well through slugs of oil as high as 800 ppm entering the plant. It met all project objectives. The results provide a roadmap to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of Canada’s valued oil reserves. The work was made possible with the generous technical and financial support of Alberta Innovates and Natural Resources Canada.

 

The solution is commercially available from Saltworks under our XtremeRO product line.  It may also be applied to other waters not suited for traditional reverse osmosis technology with salinity < 80,000 mg/L total dissolved solids.

 

Sign up to download a presentation report, or contact Saltworks to learn more.

About Alberta Innovates

 

Alberta Innovates invests in research, innovation, and entrepreneurship to drive provincial economic growth and diversity. We provide technical expertise, entrepreneurial advice and support, opportunities for partnerships and funding to advance the best ideas. We support a broad range of research and innovation activity – from discovery to use. Collaboration is at the heart of what we do, bringing together bright minds and great ideas.

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

Related Resources

Photo of a fracking site with wastewater treatment needs
Article

Frac & Shale Water Management, Treatment Costs & Options

Although there are many water management options available for shale operators, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. It is important to understand the costs, alternatives, and technical limitations of each option and develop a blended water management strategy.

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Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) and Minimal Liquid Discharge (MLD) Become Lower Cost Through Reverse Osmosis Innovation

A photo of a bank of reverse osmosis units at a public water utility plant.

Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) and Minimal Liquid Discharge (MLD) Become Lower Cost Through Reverse Osmosis Innovation

September 16th, 2019

Saltworks is pleased to announce that recent advancements in reverse osmosis technology are now commercially available. Malcolm Man of Saltworks notes “we are changing the cost equation for brine management and minimal liquid discharge. In the MLD and near ZLD space, advanced reverse osmosis can now do two things previously thought unattainable:

  1. Reduce conventional RO brine volumes by 50%, achieving brine concentrations of 130,000 to 150,000 mg/L TDS with spiral wound RO membranes.
  2. Treat industrial and produced waters with high organics and solvents, while maintaining membrane integrity.”

Throughout 2019, Saltworks has been working with industrial customers and a leading RO membrane supplier to refine and thoroughly test the technology. It has now been demonstrated through repeated successful pilots in mine water management, cooling tower blowdown, brackish water desalination, oil & gas produced water, and industrial wastewater treatment. A cooling tower blowdown treatment case study was recently published by Saltworks.

Render of the vessel of a Saltworks XtremeRO reverse osmosis brine concentrator

The advanced RO accomplishments involve the marriage of specialized RO membranes and process-control innovations. An exciting partnership in this regard will be announced in the future. Interested readers can learn more about the technologies below or contact Saltworks.

  • BrineRefine: removes scaling ions, without coagulants that can damage RO, to make an RO-friendly feed.
  • XtremeRO: ultra high pressure reverse osmosis (UHP RO) for brine concentration, including options for oil & gas produced water and industrial organic wastewater treatment.

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

Related Resources

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Lithium & Nickel Crystallizers for the EV Battery Industry

Saltworks has shipped two SaltMaker MVR crystallizers and a SaltMaker ChilledCrys to the electric vehicle (EV) battery industry. These full-scale systems will play an essential role in the production of lithium and nickel—two critical elements in EV batteries.

Zero Liquid Discharge Saltworks Technologies
News

The Water Values Podcast Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) Episode

In the latest episode of The Water Values podcast, host Dave McGimpsey interviews Saltworks CEO Ben Sparrow about zero liquid discharge (ZLD), the range of technologies involved in achieving ZLD and how Saltworks helps companies achieve their treatment goals.

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Novel On-Site Shale Produced Water Volume Reduction: Pilot Success!

Shale produced water treatment pilot

Novel On-Site Shale Produced Water Volume Reduction: Pilot Success!

July 30th, 2019

A new shale produced water volume reduction solution was successfully demonstrated in a live shale field. Comtech Industries and Saltworks partnered to deliver the innovation. Before today, there were two types of shale evaporators: the open type that evaporates direct to atmosphere, presenting air emissions risk; and the closed type that produces distilled water requiring subsequent management of release or re-use. Comtech and Saltworks tested an innovative new third option known as the “AirBreather.”

Shale Produced Water Volume Reduction Pilot

“The AirBreather is a novel evaporation alternative that offers both lower cost and risk,” said Henry Tsin, Saltworks’ Technology Director. “There is zero direct contact of produced water with atmosphere which removes the risk of air emissions – and no need to manage distilled water which removes a lengthy and costly permitting process.”

Shale Produced Water Volume Reduction Pilot

The pilot plant ran with over 97% up-time and met all metrics. It will now move to another customer site. Full-scale units are being readied for dispatch, leveraging Saltworks’ production and Comtech’s in-field capabilities. Rugged and intelligently automated AirBreather plants will lower the cost of produced water management.

Zack Susko, Comtech Industries’ Senior Project Manager commented, “To be able to reduce produced water volumes in an environmentally friendly manner, in turn taking trucks off of the road and reducing water volumes heading to disposal, is a major victory for shale gas producers and our governing regulatory agencies. The ingenuity and reliability of the AirBreather system will ensure that we are successful in creating value for all stakeholders involved.”

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

Related Resources

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FGD Pilot Success in the USA

FGD Water Treatment Plant

FGD Pilot Success in the USA

June 4th, 2019

Saltworks successfully concluded a 60-day on site pilot at a major US coal fired power plant with 100% up-time. The project treated challenging flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater to selectively remove chlorides for recycle and re-use internal to the coal stack scrubber system. By targeting the key concern—chlorides—this novel selective removal method provides an alternative to expensive complex treatments for discharge as explained in this brief video.

The pilot included a full-scale Saltworks’ FlexEDR Selective Stack, which acts as a “chloride kidney.” Within the stack, Saltworks’ novel monovalent selective anion exchange membranes pull chlorides out of the FGD wastewater under a DC electric field. Outside of stack, a robotized plant enables the process while adjusting to variable water quality and providing valuable data to the operator. The results will be presented at future conferences or contact Saltworks to learn more.

Diagram of monovalent electrodialysis reversal (mEDR) using selective membranes and FlexEDR technology
FGD Water Treatment Plant
Stack Diagram of FlexEDR Selective
Inner View of FlexEDR Selective Pilot Plant

This work was made possible through collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (Award Number DE-FE0031678), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Southern Company. FlexEDR technology was also developed with support from the National Research Council Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), BC Innovative Clean Energy Fund, Western Innovation (WINN) Initiative, and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

Related Resources

Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewater Treatment
Application

Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewater Treatment

Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems are used to remove sulfur dioxide air emissions in coal-fired power plants. FGD wastewater is often saturated with calcium sulfate, while containing both metals and chlorides. Saltworks can help to boost FGD water cycles through selective chloride removal, or treat the FGD wastewater to zero liquid discharge.

photo of FlexEDR
Product

FlexEDR Electrodialysis Reversal

FlexEDR is a next-gen electrodialysis reversal (EDR) system for industrial wastewater desalination, solving scaling issues & boosting recovery.

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Canada & Private Industry Invest in Saltworks’ AirBreather

Saltworks Team poses with Airbreather Plant

Canada & Private Industry Invest in Saltworks' Innovative AirBreather Technology

April 17th, 2019

The AirBreather is a first-of-its kind, waste heat driven evaporator-crystallizer that safely and reliably reduces the cost and environmental impact of produced water disposal from shale gas extraction. With investment from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), the AirBreather will be demonstrated in industry and scaled up for commercial roll out, where it can improve the competitiveness and sustainability of Canadian natural gas.

The Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence and Member of Parliament for Vancouver South, and Joe Peschisolido, Member of Parliament for Steveston-Richmond East, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced the SDTC investment today at Saltworks’ headquarters and manufacturing facility in Richmond, BC.

Saltworks was also honoured to host representatives from SDTC, the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), Innovate BC, Global Affairs Canada, and the City of Richmond.

Saltworks is readying a breakthrough solution to treat produced water in the natural gas industry. The new product—called the “AirBreather”—will be deployed at commercial scale with investment from SDTC. This innovation leverages earlier support from British Columbia’s Innovative Clean Energy (BC ICE) fund, which facilitated technology now used in the AirBreather.   

“Our government’s investment in this revolutionary clean innovation, developed right here in Canada, builds on our plan to strengthen Canada’s economy though innovation,” said Minister Sajjan. “This investment will not only help the oil and gas industry reduce wastewater and greenhouse gas emissions, it also will reduce costs for the industry, helping to maintain jobs and create new ones. Innovative companies like Saltworks demonstrate how a strong economy and a clean environment go hand-in-hand.”

Saltworks Team poses with Airbreather Plant
The Saltworks Team and the Honorable Harjit Sajjan in front of the AirBreather Plant

Joshua Zoshi, Saltworks’ Chief Operating Officer, commented, “Saltworks is proud to be the recipient of commercialization support for the AirBreather demonstration project. We look forward to establishing this developed-in-Canada technology as the leading solution for economic and sustainable treatment of produced water in Canada’s natural gas sector.”

The AirBreather is a descendant of Saltworks’ commercial SaltMaker MultiEffect—a low-energy technology for zero-liquid-discharge brine management. After completing SaltMaker trials in shale, the Saltworks team realized there was a better way. Hence, the AirBreather was born.

SDTC, IRAP, and the BC ICE fund have all been an important part of Saltworks’ growth, helping the company create high-skill jobs, win major international and competitive orders, develop two new BC-based production facilities, and become a world leader in environmentally focused industrial water treatment.

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

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First-of-Its-Kind Coal FGD Wastewater Treatment Pilot Deployed

Photo of a Saltworks wastewater treatment pilot system loaded on a truck for transport to customer site

First-of-Its-Kind Coal FGD Wastewater Treatment Pilot Deployed

March 12th, 2019

Saltworks has shipped a novel FlexEDR system to the southern United States that will clean up coal-fired power wastewater. Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater is a byproduct of sulfur scrubbers, installed to prevent acid rain from coal plants. Cost-effective FGD water treatment has been an elusive goal, but a solution is on the horizon.

Saltworks’ novel system will use proprietary IonFlux ion exchange membranes to selectively remove chlorides, enabling internal recycling of water. This simple single step recycle process prevents the need for very complex and expensive full treatment. The innovation is partially enabled by a new ion-specific sensor, developed by Saltworks, that can also help miners and the oil and gas industry measure and adjust to sulfate or calcium load in real time. This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-FE0031678.

Photo of a Saltworks wastewater treatment pilot system loaded on a truck for transport to customer site
The Saltworks’ plant on the way to the southern U.S.

Derek Mandel, Technology Director for FlexEDR commented: “Nicknamed the ‘chloride kidney’ and tested for over two years, we look forward to proving the solution at site with commercial systems following shortly. The product is built on the backbone of 50-year-old Electrodialysis Reversal (EDR) technology, which is the second most widely used membrane desalination tech, with full scale production already in place.”

Photo of a pilot plant used to treat FGD wastewater for reuse
Interior of the FlexEDR plant

After completing its U.S. tour, the plant will be sent to China. Over 60% of Chinese power still comes from coal, with increasing concern and regulatory pressure to treat FGD wastewater and protect China’s aquatic environment.  The ‘chloride kidney’ has applications outside of FGD, selectively removing troublesome ions to enable water reuse, for example in agriculture, oil refining, and gold extraction.

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

Related Resources

Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewater Treatment
Application

Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewater Treatment

Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems are used to remove sulfur dioxide air emissions in coal-fired power plants. FGD wastewater is often saturated with calcium sulfate, while containing both metals and chlorides. Saltworks can help to boost FGD water cycles through selective chloride removal, or treat the FGD wastewater to zero liquid discharge.

photo of FlexEDR
Product

FlexEDR Electrodialysis Reversal

FlexEDR is a next-gen electrodialysis reversal (EDR) system for industrial wastewater desalination, solving scaling issues & boosting recovery.

Contact Saltworks
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Battery Grade Lithium Produced Following Successful First Pilot Test

Image of lithium element from periodic table

Battery-Grade Lithium Produced Following Successful First Pilot Test

February 4th, 2018

A lithium mining company’s novel selective crystallization process is producing battery-grade lithium carbonate in a pilot plant at Saltworks Technologies. An executive leader from the mining company commented that they were “very pleased with the performance of the prototype pilot,” which produced lithium carbonate of >99.56% purity.

The process includes Saltworks’ robotized BrineRefine water plant and our innovative process engineering. The result was a smart, simple process delivering excellent results rapidly. Saltworks is now advancing the design of a larger mobile pilot plant for the lithium mining company.

Image of lithium element from periodic table

Henry Tsin, Technology Director at Saltworks commented, “It is great to see how a simple, elegant process using the lithium mining company’s intellectual property and Saltworks’ expertise achieves such a high purity.”

To keep up-to-date with the advancements of this project, subscribe to our newsletter. You can also read more about lithium brine extraction and our BrineRefine technology in the Saltworks knowledge center.

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

Related Resources

Image depicting a battery
News

99.9% Purity Battery-Grade Lithium Hydroxide

Saltworks is pleased to announce the production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide from an industrial wastewater. Saltworks’ process harvests lithium hydroxide solids that reach or exceed battery-grade specifications.

A simple process flow diagram for lithium processing and refining by Saltworks Technologies
Infographic

Lithium Process Flow Brochure

This lithium process flow brochure shows how membrane, thermal, and chemical water technologies fit into various stages of lithium production. Learn how to process lithium to battery-grade, downstream of direct lithium extraction.

Photo of an electric vehicle with a lithium ion battery charging
Application

Lithium Extraction and Refining

Saltworks brings water mining expertise and advanced desalination technologies to our lithium clients, offering solutions for concentrating, refining, and converting low-grade lithium sources to battery-grade product. We offer higher purity and lower energy processing technology, that boosts yield, removes unit operations, and reduces cost.

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Saltworks Invents Own Competition: SaltMaker AirBreather

Photo of a SaltMaker AirBreather pilot plant with engineering team

Saltworks Invents its Own Competition: The SaltMaker AirBreather

November 2nd, 2018

Today, Saltworks officially launched a new product for shale operators: the SaltMaker AirBreather. After completing two shale pilot projects, the Saltworks team realized there was a more cost effective way to treat shale gas waters. Building on the success of the SaltMaker MultiEffect—Saltworks’ hallmark evaporator crystallizer—the SaltMaker AirBreather was designed with the shale end use in mind: high capacity, low cost, employ low-grade heat, and robust modular operations.

Photo of a SaltMaker AirBreather pilot plant with engineering team
The Saltworks Commissioning Team with their AirBreather pilot plant being readied in our factory.

The team completed over one year of testing while dipping into the SaltMaker MultiEffect parts bin to develop the new SaltMaker AirBreather product. The AirBreather offers operators:

  • A lower cost evaporator crystallizer that can be dispatched in modules and scaled-up to meet any capacity
  • Safe evaporation of water to atmosphere, leaving no freshwater by-product to manage
  • No expensive chemical treatment or volatile organic compound (VOC) air emissions
  • The ability to harness low cost energy to concentrate salty waters
  • Reduce shale gas waters to either a low volume brine suitable for disposal wells or solid salt crystals for re-use or safe landfilling.
  • Optional NORMs management bolt-on if required

Process flow diagram of a SaltMaker Airbreather evaporator
Process flow diagram for the SaltMaker AirBreather

The SaltMaker AirBreather is not just for shale gas applications. It fits where projects seek to treat complex brines unfit for membrane systems. Read more in-depth knowledge on the technology behind the AirBreather.

Executive Vice President Malcolm Man commented, “I am really proud that the design team invented a competitor to the MultiEffect. The AirBreather will beat the MultiEffect where thermal energy costs less than $5/GJ. The MultiEffect wins on higher cost energy or where liquid water recovery is important. Either way, customers now have two product options to choose from.”

Rendered image of a SaltMaker AirBreather evaporator crystallizer
SaltMaker AirBreather

About Saltworks

Saltworks Technologies is a leader in the development and delivery of solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and lithium refining. By working with customers to understand their unique challenges and focusing on continuous innovation, Saltworks’ solutions provide best-in-class performance and reliability. From its headquarters in Richmond, BC, Canada, Saltworks’ team designs, builds, and operates full-scale plants, and offers comprehensive onsite and offsite testing services with its fleet of mobile pilots.

Related Resources

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Lithium & Nickel Crystallizers for the EV Battery Industry

Saltworks has shipped two SaltMaker MVR crystallizers and a SaltMaker ChilledCrys to the electric vehicle (EV) battery industry. These full-scale systems will play an essential role in the production of lithium and nickel—two critical elements in EV batteries.

A photo of a SaltMaker evaporator crystallizer at Saltworks HQ
Product

SaltMaker Evaporators & Crystallizers

Our SaltMaker modular evaporators and crystallizers turn almost any wastewater into clean water, minimal liquid discharge (MLD) brines or zero liquid discharge (ZLD) solids.

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