Kunshan Zhong Yan WWTP view Berghof Membranes

In order to meet stringent water reuse standards, the Kunshan plant set out to find a cost-effective solution to treat its reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate and improve overall RO system recovery. Ultimately, the company’s goal was to achieve zero liquid discharge (ZLD), recycling treated water back into the process stream and reducing the amount of concentrate that is ultimately routed to the evaporator/crystallization system.

The Kunshan Zhong Yan plant contracted Berghof Membranes (BMT) to install its tubular ultrafiltration (UF) membranes, becoming the first commercial plant in China to use tubular membrane technology in soda ash production. The original system requirements called for a treatment capacity of 2,784 m³/day, a flux of 15O l/m²/h (LMH) and a crossflow rate 3,0 m/s. The Berghof Membrane system was designed with a total of 12 modules installed in two skids. In each skid, six modules are connected in series using Berghof’s 5mm-diameter PVDF tubular UF membranes which are rated to a maximum operating temperature of 60° Celsius to withstand rigorous Clean-In-Place (CIP) procedures.