Treatment of flue gas desulfurization wastewater with near-zero liquid discharge by nanofiltration-membrane distillation process

The treatment process for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater was investigated using an integrated nanofiltration–membrane distillation (NF-MD) technology for near-zero liquid discharge. The whole system could achieve over 99.99% salt rejection ratio and over 92% of water reclamation ratio. The salinity of the MD permeate was low (Cl- less than 3 mg/L and SO42- less than 1 mg/L) and the permeate could be reused by thermal power plants directly. High-purity (over 97%) brine (10% NaCl, w/w) was produced after MD concentration. It was found that chemical softening and NF pretreatment could decrease MD membrane scaling significantly. No wastewater was discharged during the whole process. Such hybrid NF-MD system has the potential for practical application in FGD wastewater treatment.