Lubei Chemical Park Brine Treatment and Zero Liquid Discharge Upgrade (Jarud Banner, Tongliao)

Location: Lubei Industrial Park, Jarud Banner, Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. China National Chemical Engineering's Donghua Engineering Science and Technology Co., Ltd. delivered the project under an EPC+O model - engineering, procurement and construction from a single contractor plus a five-year operating period. The scope combined new build and retrofit: ten new units and nine modified units, adding brine polishing and salt-crystallisation stages to the chemical park's existing wastewater system. Ground was broken on 12 May 2024. The team worked against a tight schedule, heavy civil/mechanical overlap and winter construction, and coordinated in advance with the future operating crew to complete construction and start-up within eight months. On 12 January 2025 the whole train was connected end to end and the salt-crystallisation unit started up successfully at the first attempt, producing specification-grade product salt - the point at which the project moved from construction into trial production. The feed is brine from the chemical cluster. Per the source, treatment yields two streams: reclaimed water returned to the park to cut fresh-water intake, and separated salt sold as a by-product. For the companies involved, brine that previously carried high disposal cost becomes water and salt that can be used by quality tier; for the park, the last link in end-of-pipe treatment is closed and environmental headroom is released for new projects. The source describes only the crystallisation unit and the reclaimed-water/by-product-salt outcome; membrane concentration, evaporation and design parameters are not itemised. Under the EPC+O arrangement Donghua operates the plant for five years. Capacity, total investment, feed and product water quality, annual salt output and unit operating cost have not been disclosed and are not estimated here. Sources: "Donghua's Lubei brine zero-discharge project achieves full-process commissioning", People's Daily Online - Anhui Channel, 16 January 2025, https://ah.people.com.cn/n2/2025/0116/c227767-41110375.html Image: aerial view of the Lubei chemical park brine zero-discharge project, showing process buildings, tank farm and evaporation-crystallisation area (full-process commissioning, January 2025; image source: People's Daily Online - Anhui Channel, photo by Zhang Ying)