<p>The wastewater treatment plant at GE Healthcare's facility in Uppsala deployed a three step vacuum evaporator in 2007. The purpose of this was to pre-treat wastewater containing amines. The purpose of this thesis was to optimize thisprocess by reducing the amount of concentrate without releasing more nitrogen tothe environment and to examine if density could be used as a measurement of whenthe process should be ended.To create a foundation for optimization six test cycles were conducted with samples taken from all three steps. Both concentrate and condensate were tested as well as the incoming solution. Furthermore, the thesis has been expanded with a benchmarking part examining two different evaporators. The first visit was conducted at AstraZeneca in Mölndal and the second at Korsnäs pulp mill in Gävle.The optimization part of this project ran into technical problems during its initial period. The amount of nitrogen in the condensate was above levels considerednormal and this led to a thorough cleaning of the evaporator. The experiments thenproceeded according to plan with nitrogen levels considered normal. The analysis ofthe collected data did not lead to any result suitable to run the process by.The benchmarking phase went according to plan and resulted in the conclusion thatevaporation processes are generally stabile and similar. The incoming solution was found to be the parameter that limits the process.</p>

The wastewater treatment plant at GE Healthcare's facility in Uppsala deployed a three step vacuum evaporator in 2007. The purpose of this was to pre-treat wastewater containing amines. The purpose of this thesis was to optimize thisprocess by reducing the amount of concentrate without releasing more nitrogen tothe environment and to examine if density could be used as a measurement of whenthe process should be ended.To create a foundation for optimization six test cycles were conducted with samples taken from all three steps. Both concentrate and condensate were tested as well as the incoming solution. Furthermore, the thesis has been expanded with a benchmarking part examining two different evaporators. The first visit was conducted at AstraZeneca in Mölndal and the second at Korsnäs pulp mill in Gävle.The optimization part of this project ran into technical problems during its initial period. The amount of nitrogen in the condensate was above levels considerednormal and this led to a thorough cleaning of the evaporator. The experiments thenproceeded according to plan with nitrogen levels considered normal. The analysis ofthe collected data did not lead to any result suitable to run the process by.The benchmarking phase went according to plan and resulted in the conclusion thatevaporation processes are generally stabile and similar. The incoming solution was found to be the parameter that limits the process.