Condition
Prepare the feed for the membrane and the site's treatment boundary.
Hyper-Saline Brine Concentration & Recovery
Technology
overviewTrevi concentrates hyper-saline brine and recovers water and minerals with two complementary engines: a heat-driven forward-osmosis loop that uses low-grade and waste heat to recover the draw to the loop, and an electrochemical softening-and-concentration train that pushes brine far past conventional membrane limits.
System boundary · Feed + draw + heat + finish
The Forward-Osmosis Loop
A Trevi project connects membrane transfer to draw regeneration, water finishing, and the defined route for the concentrated feed.
Transfer
An osmotic-pressure difference moves water into the circulating draw.
Regenerate
Heat separates recovered water from the thermolytic draw.
Finish
Polish recovered water to the agreed project specification.
- Feed
- Chemistry · Flow · Temperature · Variability
- Water target
- Reuse · Process supply · Defined quality
- Heat
- Temperature · Duty cycle · Heat-exchange approach
- Residual
- Managed concentrate · Treatment · Recovery evaluation
Configuration and performance are established for the actual feed, heat source, and output requirements.
Review the Complete LoopWater chemistry
Reading a Feed Beyond TDS
Two waters with identical TDS can behave completely differently under treatment. Performance depends on species and chemical form, not one summed number.
TDS isn't enough
TDS is a sum, not a fingerprint. The same TDS can mean different scale-forming ions, iron and manganese states, or particle loads, each demanding a different treatment response.
Concentrate governs
As recovery rises, rejected species build up in the reject stream. That concentrate, not the feed, sets the system's scaling and corrosion limits.
Interpret before testing
Before bench or pilot work, we check charge balance, the alkalinity/pH/inorganic-carbon relationship, and whether trace scale formers are missing from the panel. Inconsistent data gets resolved first.
Technology map
Five Parts of the Platform
Forward osmosis, pressure-assisted concentration, thermal draw regeneration, heat recovery, and electrochemical scaling-ion control each have a distinct role in the complete system.
DOE / NELHA · Kona, Hawaii
The Integrated System in Operation
The Hawaii plant connects the membrane, draw solution, heat exchangers, solar-thermal input, and final filtration in one demonstration.
- PublishedDOE award
- $4 million award in 2022 U.S. Department of Energy
- DesignProject basis
- 500 m³/day FO system with solar collectors as the heat source DOE Solar Desalination Prize summary
- PublishedDOE-reported result
- Successful operation produced water of similar quality to conventional RO U.S. Department of Energy
One integrated solar-thermal seawater demonstration, on its own feed and duty.
Start with the operating data
Bring the feed chemistry, flow, water target, heat profile, and residual route. Trevi will define the next test.