Innovative Treatment Process for Coal Slurry Water Recycling

Release time:

2026-04-13

The conventional “coagulation–sedimentation” process requires a large footprint, necessitates frequent sludge removal from sedimentation tanks, involves high chemical dosages, and struggles to consistently produce effluent of sufficient quality for reuse in high-standard applications.

　　“Three-No Direct Filtration” Technology for Coal Slurry Water Recycling and Treatment Solutions in Thermal Power Plants

　　I. Core Issue: Challenges in Conventional Coal Slurry Water Treatment

　　The coal slurry water in thermal power plants mainly originates from flushing of the coal-handling system, dust removal, and rainwater, and its characteristics are:

　　·High suspended solids (SS) concentration, primarily consisting of extremely fine coal dust particles.

　　·Particulate matter is lightweight and has poor settling characteristics.

　　·Water quality and quantity fluctuate significantly, influenced by factors such as power generation load and weather.

　　·The conventional “coagulation–sedimentation” process requires a large footprint, necessitates frequent sludge removal from sedimentation tanks, involves high chemical dosages, and often yields effluent quality that is difficult to consistently meet the stringent standards required for reuse in high-demand applications.

　　II. Solution: Coagulation + Integrated “Three-No Direct Filtration” System

　　This scheme will serve as a pretreatment step, integrated with an innovative “three-no direct filtration” advanced treatment unit, to form a compact, skid-mounted water reuse treatment system that is both highly efficient and energy-saving.

　　Process flow:

　　III. Core Advantages of the “Three-No Direct Filtration” Technology in Coal Slurry Water Treatment

　　1. Power-free water production: Significant energy and resource savings

　　·By leveraging the inherent potential energy of the plant’s coal-water system or the residual pressure in the pipelines, the water flow can pass through the direct filtration unit without the need for an additional booster pump, enabling gravity-fed or low-pressure filtration. For coal slurry with large treatment volumes, this approach can result in substantial energy savings.

　　2. No consumable replacements: Eliminates solid waste and reduces O&M costs.

　　·The core filtration medium employs specially designed permanent or semi-permanent filter columns, rather than traditional fabric bags, filter bags, or filter cartridges.

　　·The efficient air–water combined backwashing technology thoroughly removes the intercepted coal-powder particles, restoring the filter column’s filtration capacity. The high-concentration coal-slurry water discharged during backwashing can be returned to the front end of the system or directed to the coal yard, enabling the recovery and reuse of coal powder and eliminating the generation of waste consumables.

　　3. Non-discriminatory influent: strong shock-load resistance and stable effluent quality.

　　·This technology is insensitive to fluctuations in influent water quality (such as changes in SS concentration) and does not require frequent process adjustments in response to variations in the incoming water.

　　·The microflocs formed during the enhanced chemical coagulation process are precisely retained in the direct filtration unit, ensuring that the effluent SS remains below 5 mg/L—even under conditions of fluctuating influent SS—and can even be lower, fully meeting or exceeding the quality standards for reclaimed water.

　　IV. Core Value Brought to Thermal Power Plants

　　·Significant economic benefits:

　　·Energy-saving: Produces water without any external power, resulting in extremely low operating costs.

　　·Drug savings: Compared with conventional processes, the dosage of flocculant can be reduced by approximately 15–30%.

　　·Space-saving: The skid-mounted, integrated design occupies only 1/3 to 1/2 the footprint of conventional sedimentation tanks, making it particularly well-suited for plant expansion and renovation projects.

　　·Resource recovery: The recovered coal powder can be reused, and the backwash water is recirculated in a closed loop, achieving dual recovery of both water and coal resources.

　　·Environmental and Social Benefits:

　　·Zero waste discharge: By adopting “no consumable materials” and “coal sludge recycling” approaches, solid waste emissions are minimized to the greatest extent, thereby helping power plants achieve “zero emissions” and clean production goals.

　　·Water conservation and emission reduction: Achieve high-quality reuse of coal slurry water, significantly reducing fresh water intake and wastewater discharge.

　　· Intelligent O&M: The system operates fully automatically, requiring virtually no human intervention, making O&M simple and reliable.

　　Summary

　　Applying the “three-no direct filtration technology” to coal slurry water treatment in thermal power plants represents a revolutionary upgrade over conventional water-treatment approaches. Centered on the core principle of “replacing sedimentation with filtration,” this technology employs a highly integrated, energy-efficient, and maintenance-free skid-mounted system to consistently produce high-quality recycled water while minimizing operating costs and environmental impact. It is therefore the ideal solution for thermal power plants seeking to conserve water, reduce energy consumption, enhance quality and efficiency, and achieve green development.

How is the no-replacement-of-consumables feature achieved in 3-Free direct filtration technology?

How should we understand the “no-power water production” aspect of the 3-Free direct filtration technology?

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