Wärtsilä has strong roots in the maritime industry and has been supplying freshwater generation systems for a wide range of vessels since 1900 (also known as Wärtsilä Serck Como GmbH).
However: water management and freshwater generation are challenges that surpass the maritime industry. As a first-off, Wärtsilä Water & Waste received an order for a Liquid Concentration Package for a land-based application earlier this year. The LCP will be used to reduce wastewater in a galvanic plant in China. Wärtsilä has been awarded the contract because of the functionality and price of the designed system.
The integration of Wärtsilä’s Liquid Concentration Package in the galvanic plant will reduce the amount of accruing effluent. At the same time a portion of the used fresh water can be recovered. Reducing the amount of wastewater and recovering fresh water has a positive impact on the environment and on the operational costs related to managing wastewater.
Wärtsilä’s Liquid Concentration Package consists of two multi-stage evaporators and one separator. These units will be delivered at the customer’s site early 2021. The commissioning of the complete system will be executed by Wärtsilä’s own engineers.
Technology explained
The main component of the liquid concentration package is the Horizontal inner Tube Evaporator (HiTE). The HiTE works on the principle of vacuum distillation and produces highly purified water. Process water is fed into the HiTE where it is heated up and vaporized. This steam is then led into a built-in condenser creating a distillate. Depending on the desired concentration factor the concentrated process water will then either be discarded or fed back into the loop.
The HiTE’s easy maintenance and variety of available materials are just two of the many advantages. For specific applications, the HiTE can even be constructed from reinforced plastics. The ability to run the unit in part load makes it very flexible. And most important: the limited heat consumption is where the HiTE sets itself apart from other solutions in the market. It uses up to 70% less energy when compared to other evaporators.
