Crystallizers for Brine Waste Treatment: Technologies and Design Heuristics

This book chapter discusses salt crystallization, a solid-liquid separation process, with regards to brine waste management. We examine the current challenges in this field and technologies used in industry. Crystallization techniques such as pellet softening, evaporation, and membrane distillation are discussed. Also, we explore pressure-driven membrane crystallization as a possible method to treat brine waste and consider certain techniques from literature to help realize this system. This chapter also provides design heuristics to guide the development of improved crystallizers by looking at bulk and surface influences on crystallization. This chapter discusses salt crystallization, a solid-liquid separation process, with regards to brine waste management. It examines the current challenges in this field and technologies used in industry. The chapter discusses crystallization techniques such as pellet softening, evaporation, and membrane distillation. It explores pressure-driven membrane crystallization as a possible method to treat brine waste and discusses certain techniques from literature to help realize this system. The chapter also provides design heuristics to guide the development of improved crystallizers by looking at bulk and surface influences on crystallization. A brine crystallizer uses a solid-liquid separation technique to remove salts via precipitation from brines. Pellet softeners are one of the most ubiquitous types of crystallizers used at the industrial scale for domestic water treatment, this process involves reducing water hardness by precipitating dissolved salts.