Industrial Desalination Systems
Saltworks specializes in designing and delivering full-scale, modular systems for industrial water desalination and lithium refining. Our digital modular system packages are end-to-end solutions designed for rapid installation, operational ease and high performance.
Our packages includes:
- All core process unit operations delivered pre-commissioning and ready to install.
- Flange-to-flange complete system, ready to install, start-up, and future-proof with built-in digitization.
- All interconnecting pipework, pipe bridges, and inter-skid cabling.
- All feed pumps, feed and discharge controls, and chemical delivery systems.
- A single access, total plant control system with advanced intelligence to reduce labor, increase up-time, and optimize performance.
- A comprehensive spare parts, documentation, and training program.
Industrial Desalination Systems
Saltworks offers three distinct industrial desalination systems:
Saltworks’ selective contaminant removal systems cost-effectively recover or treat specific ions. By surgically targeting specific ions with SCR, more expensive full-stream treatment may be avoided while also minimizing waste residuals.
Our physical and chemical SCR systems are flexible and can target a variety of compounds. Use cases include:
- Targeted treatment of hydrofluoric acid waste, heavy metals, sulfates.
- Removal of scaling ions including hardness, metals and silica.
- Resource recovery of valuable metals such as cobalt or nutrients such as phosphorous.
- Selective nanofiltration to produce a permeate for re-use while rejecting divalent ions.
Core technologies: BrineRefine, XtremeUF, SelectNF
Saltworks’ minimal liquid discharge systems maximize freshwater recovery while minimizing over the remaining saline brine. Our MLD systems employ the optimal blend of advanced reverse osmosis (RO) technologies to cost-effectively and reliably treat your specific wastewater.
Common reverse osmosis stages include:
- 600 psi initial RO recovery generating a brine, which may be saturated in scaling ions.
- Selective contaminant removal (SCR) of scaling ions.
- 1200 psi RO (seawater or SWRO) to recover additional water.
- 1800 psi RO (ultra high pressure or UHP RO) to boost recovery, or
- Osmotically assisted RO (OARO) to achieve the highest possible membrane-based water recovery and brine concentration.
Core technologies: BrineRefine, XtremeUF, XtremeRO/OARO
Saltworks’ zero liquid discharge systems economically treat saline brines to produce solid salt while recovering remaining water as a distillate. ZLD is needed when brine rejects cannot be cost-effectively disposed of or stored.
Our ZLD systems often start with a membrane-based MLD system, followed by our advanced evaporator and crystallizer options. Our ZLD systems are designed to treat highly impacted waters built to handle scaling ions while self-cleaning and minimizing chemical consumption.
Core technologies: BrineRefine, XtremeUF, XtremeRO/OARO, SaltMaker MVR
Lithium Refining Systems
Saltworks offers advanced lithium refining systems:
Our modular and advanced lithium refining systems (LRS) cost-effectively refine both hard rock and brine feedstocks to produce lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide with 99.9% purity.
Saltworks’ lithium refining activities focus on:
- Direct lithium extraction (DLE) post-processing via our complete concentrate, refine and conversion (CRC) systems to produce battery-grade lithium chemicals. See process.
- Spodumene processing systems that accept post-leach lithium solutions to produce lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide. See process.
- Discrete unit operations as part of large lithium refining such as:
- Modernized and modular lithium carbonation systems enabling ease of operation.
- Advanced lithium hydroxide crystallizers.
- Discrete impurity removal systems to target hardness and/or boron.
- Ultra-high water recovery systems to generate freshwater and concentrate lithium, including ultrahigh-pressure reverse osmosis (UHP RO) and osmotically assisted reverse osmosis (OARO).
Core technologies: BrineRefine, XtremeUF, XtremeRO/OARO, SaltMaker MVR, LcRx