ZeViron™ Pilot Success - Smelter Wastewater, Ontario

A refinery in Ontario is confronted with a difficult wastewater treatment challenge, dealing with effluent from wet scrubbing of flue gas featuring concentrations of 100 mg/L for hexavalent selenium and 20 mg/L for boron. The refinery, committed to adhering to stringent effluent discharge regulations, enlisted the expertise of an independent engineering firm for an initial assessment. Following this assessment, LaFar’s patent pending ZeViron™ process was selected for testing, and wastewater samples were tested in LaFar’s laboratory in Richmond. ZeViron™ demonstrated rapid selenium removal to levels below 0.005 mg/L within just 4 hours, showcasing remarkable efficiency. Continuous pilot demonstration testing further affirmed ZeViron's effectiveness, achieving target treatment concentrations even with a challenging 100 mg/L influent selenium concentration. Beyond addressing discharge concerns, ZeViron's outstanding performance streamlined the refinery’s operations and feed throughput. The treatment not only met selenium targets but also yielded a 50% reduction in boron concentration and complete removal of other heavy metals including chromium, molybdenum, antimony, copper, etc. Remarkably, the treatment residue passed the TCLP test, signifying its suitability for landfill disposal. With the basic engineering design of the system now completed, full-scale implementation of the ZeViron™ process is currently underway, marking a significant stride toward sustainable and efficient wastewater treatment at the refinery.