Evaporation is the process through which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor. It is a primary pathway that helps water move from the liquid state back into the water cycle as atmospheric water vapor. Studies have shown that lakes, rivers, seas, oceans provide nearly 90 percent of the moisture in the atmosphere through evaporation, with the remaining 10 percent contributed by plant transpiration.
A small amount of water vapor enters the atmosphere through sublimation. It is a process by which water changes from a solid to gas, bypassing the liquid state.
The Role of Heat in Evaporation
Heat is essential for evaporation. Energy (in the form of heat) helps to break the bonds that hold water molecules together. It is why water can evaporate at the boiling point (212F/100C) but evaporates at a much slower rate at the freezing end of the spectrum. A state of saturation exists when the two process rates are equal, at which point the relative humidity of the air is a hundred percent.
Evaporation in everyday lives
Here are a few examples of how evaporation benefits us in our daily lives:
- Drying clothes in the sun is one of the most common examples of evaporation. The water present in the clothes when they are washed (and hung on the line) is removed by the evaporation process.
- Crystallization is the process of obtaining crystals from the “mother” liquid. It takes place due to evaporation.
- The process of evaporation helps in food industries for processing pasta, milk, and other concentrates.
- The melting of an ice cube is an example of evaporation.
- If you ever find yourself stranded on an island in need of some salt, grab a bowl, add some seawater and wait for the sun to evaporate the water. What you’ll be left with (thanks to evaporation) is salt. One way to produce table salt is to evaporate saline water in evaporation ponds. This technique has been used by people for thousands of years.
Evaporation is present in our daily lives, but it is also helpful in wastewater treatment. Let us learn how!
Meaning of wastewater evaporation
Industrial wastewater evaporation is one of the time-tested methods for reducing the water portion of water-based wastes. In its simplest form, a machine known as an evaporator converts the water portion of water-based wastes to water vapor while leaving the higher boiling contaminants behind. As a result, these wastewater solutions are helping to minimize the amount of waste that needs to be hauled off-site.
The evaporation process itself involves both mass transfer and thermodynamic phenomena.
Evaporation – An alternative for wastewater treatment
The separation or recovery of valuable materials from wastewater flows can sometimes be accomplished with evaporation technology.
Evaporation is one of the alternative processes in an increasing number of
wastewater treatment applications. It can be effective for removing or concentrating salts, heavy metals, and various hazardous materials from solution. Also, it may be used to recover useful by-products from a solution or to concentrate liquid waste before the final disposal and additional treatment. Most technological applications also produce a high-quality, reusable distillate. Thus, it is an important feature where water conservation is a priority.
During evaporation, a solution is concentrated when a portion of the solvent, usually water, is vaporized. It leaves behind a saline liquor that contains virtually all the dissolved solids or solute from the original feed. The process may be carried out naturally in solar evaporation ponds or through commercially available evaporation equipment.
CWE’s plan for wastewater treatment
Clean Water Environmental has state of the art wastewater treatment, disposal, and recycling facilities for non-hazardous and hazardous wastewaters in two strategically situated Ohio locations to meet all your wastewater treatment needs.
Clean Water Environmental uses both tried-and-true processes and cutting-edge technological systems for the treatment of wastewaters.
Our Niro Falling Film Evaporator technology leads the way in ultra-efficient, state-of-the-art wastewater treatment. The Ohio EPA recognizes the Niro as Best Available Technology (BAT). Our Vacom (1st generation evaporator) has recently come back online after a complete re-engineering effort.
We are fully permitted and certified.
Contact us for all of your wastewater needs (hazardous and non-hazardous).
