"100% Wastewater Reuse"... Yeongpung Seokpo Smelter Marks 5th Anniversary of Zero Liquid Discharge System

KRW 46 Billion Invested to Treat 2,000–2,500 Cubic Meters of Process Water Daily
Cumulative Environmental Investments Reach KRW 540 Billion,
Demonstrating Improvements in Water and Air Quality

Yeongpung has announced its achievements in reprocessing all process wastewater, reducing river water intake, and improving water quality at the Seokpo Smelter through its Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system.

On May 29, Yeongpung stated that the 'Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)' system, which was introduced for the first time in the world at the Seokpo Smelter, will mark its fifth anniversary of operation on May 30.

Overview of Youngpoong Seokpo Smelter's Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) Wastewater System. Youngpoong

Since May 30, 2021, Yeongpung has been fully operating the Zero Liquid Discharge system at the Seokpo Smelter. The ZLD is a closed-loop water treatment system that reprocesses all wastewater generated from the smelting process without any external discharge, recycling the treated water back into the production process. As it shifts the concept of industrial wastewater management from discharge to reuse, it is regarded as a leading example of eco-friendly transformation in the domestic industry.

A total of KRW 46 billion was invested in the ZLD system at the Seokpo Smelter. This facility applies an atmospheric evaporation and concentration method, where process wastewater is purified, then boiled at over 100°C to collect steam, which is then recovered as clean water and reused as process water.

The main equipment consists of evaporators that evaporate the treated process water and crystallizers that solidify and process impurities.

Yeongpung invested KRW 30.9 billion in the first phase in 2021 to install three evaporators and one crystallizer. In 2023, an additional KRW 15.4 billion was invested to add one more evaporator and one more crystallizer.

The ZLD facility can process up to 4,000 cubic meters per day. In practice, it treats and recycles 2,000 to 2,500 cubic meters of process water per day on average.

Yeongpung explained that by reusing 100% of the process water with this system, the annual intake of river water has been reduced by approximately 880,000 cubic meters. The company claims it is achieving results in water resource conservation, prevention of water pollution, and the establishment of a resource-circulating production process.

Yeongpung has also completed patent registration for the system. Recently, there have been ongoing benchmarking visits from local governments and industrial complex officials.

In November last year, members of the Strategic Industry Team from Yeongwol County Office in Gangwon Province visited the Seokpo Smelter to tour the ZLD system. Yeongwol County, which is working to establish a tungsten supply chain and an advanced industrial materials complex, is reportedly reviewing the introduction of a zero-discharge public wastewater treatment facility.

In October last year, public officials in charge of the textile industry from a metropolitan government visited the Seokpo Smelter to assess the feasibility of introducing a zero-discharge system in connection with a project to relocate a dyeing industrial complex. In December 2023, officials from another metropolitan government also toured the ZLD system to develop public wastewater treatment facilities and water quality preservation measures related to the establishment of a secondary battery industrial complex.

On the 28th, an employee at Youngpoong Seokpo Smelter controlled the equipment through the integrated system in the DCS room of the wastewater zero-discharge system. Youngpoong

In addition to the ZLD, Yeongpung has continued to make large-scale investments in environmental improvements across the entire Seokpo Smelter. Since establishing its "Environmental Improvement Innovation Plan" in 2019, the company has invested a cumulative total of about KRW 540 billion by 2025 to improve all environmental areas, including water, air, and soil.

Notable initiatives include the introduction of ozone injection facilities to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx), expansion of the oxygen plant, installation of dust prevention facilities, and establishment of a real-time emission monitoring system (TMS).

Additionally, the company transparently discloses real-time air quality information near the smelter via electronic billboards in front of the Seokpo-myeon office and the Andong Dam World Water Forum Memorial Center, as well as through the Yeongpung website.

The company explained that the results of its environmental investments are also evident in actual measurement data. As of February this year, all major heavy metal items—including cadmium, cyanide, lead, arsenic, and copper—were found to be below detection limits at major national monitoring points downstream of the Seokpo Smelter.

The air quality is also maintained at clean levels. According to Air Korea data, the main air quality measurements at the monitoring station located within a 1 km radius of the Seokpo-myeon office near the smelter remain at clean levels. On February 24, the daily average measurements were: nitrogen oxides (NOx) at 0.0060 ppm, sulfur oxides (SOx) at 0.0049 ppm, and particulate matter (PM-10) at 21 μg/m³.

The company also reported that otters, an endangered species, have recently been observed inhabiting the Nakdong River near the smelter.

Since its establishment in 1970 in Seokpo-myeon, Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang Province, the Yeongpung Seokpo Smelter has grown alongside the Korean manufacturing industry for more than 50 years. Currently, approximately 1,000 employees, including those from partner and contractor companies, are working at the smelter.

A Yeongpung representative stated, "The fifth anniversary of the ZLD system is not just about operating an environmental facility, but is a symbolic milestone that has changed the environmental paradigm of the domestic industry," adding, "We will continue to create a sustainable smelter model by expanding investments in eco-friendly smelting technology and environmental safety."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.