More particularly, the present invention involves neutralization of the waste stream with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and evaporative crystallization of sodium chloride (NaCl).

In the commercial manufacture of the herbicide glyphosate, iminodiacetic acid (IDA) is converted to N-phosphonomethyliminodiacetic acid (PMIDA) by reaction with hydrochloric acid (HCl), phosphorous acid (H3PO3) and formaldehyde (CH2O) or by reaction with phosphorus trichloride (PC13), NaOH and CH20. The process waste from this step is routinely disposed of by deep well injection. Because of the high chloride content and high volume of this waste stream, other more environmentally friendly waste treatment alternatives such as wet air oxidation or thermal incineration are economically prohibitive. It would be desirable to have a method to reduce the content of corrosive chloride and the overall hydraulic waste volumes of the PMIDA waste stream so that other methods of disposal become economically viable.

It has now been found that NaCl can be effectively removed and recovered from phosphonomethyliminodiacetic acid (PMIDA) process wastes by neutralization of the waste stream with NaOH

and by evaporative crystallization. The present invention concerns a process for the removal and recovery of NaCl from a PMIDA process waste stream which is characterized by neutralizing the waste stream with NaOH to a pH of about 7, evaporating off water at or below atmospheric pressure at a temperature of 40 to 130°C until NaCl precipitates, filtering the precipitate at a temperature of 35 to 110°C, and washing the precipitate with brine.

Because the concentration of sodium salts of other species in the neutralized waste stream apparently lowers the solubility of NaCl in the matrix, NaCl can be removed and recovered from the PMIDA process waste stream to a surprisingly high degree of isolation and purity.

The aqueous waste stream from the manufacture of PMIDA typically can contain phosphorous acid (0.3 to 2 percent by weight), phosphoric acid (0.3 to 3 percent by weight), HCl (9 to 15 percent by weight), iminodiacetic acid (IDA; 0.1 to 0.3 percent by weight), PMIDA (0. 8 to 4 percent by weight), N- methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA; 0.5 to 8 percent by weight) as well as small quantities of methanol, formaldehyde and formic acid.

In the first step of the NaCl removal and recovery process, the PMIDA aqueous waste stream is neutralized with NaOH to a pH of about 7, i. e., so that all the organic and inorganic acids, including HCl, have been converted to their respective sodium salts, NaCl and water. In order to minimize the overall hydraulic load, it is preferable to neutralize

with relatively concentrated solutions of NaOH.

Commercially available 50 percent NaOH is preferred for the neutralization. The heat of neutralization significantly raises the temperature of the neutralized mixture for the subsequent evaporative crystallization.

After neutralization, water is removed from the neutralized mixture until NaCl precipitates. The water is evaporated at or below atmospheric pressure at a temperature of 40 to 130°C, preferably at a temperature of 60 to 100°C. Evaporation is continued until most of the NaCl has precipitated but not so far that the slurry becomes intractable, that foaming becomes excessive or that the subsequent filtrate becomes too viscous. Generally, the amount of water equivalent to from 35 to 70 weight percent, preferably from 50 to 65 weight percent, of the neutralized mixture is stripped off. Naturally, the amount of water removed will vary with the original concentration of the neutralized waste stream and the concentration of the neutralizing base used. The exact amount of water to be removed can be easily optimized by routine experimentation with the particular waste stream being treated. Wide ranges of operating conditions are possible for the evaporation, based upon the thermal stability of the components of the waste stream and the pressure limitations of the equipment. The water vapor from the process can be condensed for potential recycle.

After evaporative crystallization, the NaCl is recovered by filtration. Because of the viscosity of the filtrate, the filtration is conducted at a temperature of 35 to 110°C, preferably at temperature of 60 to 90°C. Gravity, upstream pressure, downstream vacuum or centrifugal force can drive the filtration.

The NaCl is isolated as a filter cake. The volume of the aqueous waste stream, now represented by the filtrate, is significantly reduced and, with the removal of most of the chloride content, is more amenable to other waste treatment options besides deep well disposal, such as, for example, wet air oxidation or incineration.

In the last step of the process, the NaCl filter cake is washed with brine to remove residual filtrate. While the concentration of the brine is not critical since the brine wash can be recycled to the neutralized waste stream, the use of, dilute brine results in the dissolution of salt cake and the use of a saturated brine results in the rejection of additional NaCl from the brine due to the"salting out"caused by the sodium salt-containing components in the wash-displaced filtrate. Preferably, the concentration of NaCl in the wash brine should be the same as that in the filtrate. While the temperature of the wash step is not critical, the viscous residual filtrate in the filter cake can be more efficiently removed by washing at elevated temperatures, for example, from about 35 to 60°C.

The following examples illustrate the invention.

EXAMPLES 1. In a 3-necked 250 milliliter (mL) flask equipped with a side arm water-cooled condenser and receiver, a variable-speed paddle agitator and a thermowell with a temperature controlled heating mantle and supplied with a controlled vacuum source, 100 grams (g) of a PMIDA process brine having a composition of 0.3% IDA, 6.7% MIDA, 3.8% PMIDA, 10.1% HC1, 1.8% H3PO3 and 2.2% H3PO4 was neutralized to pH=6.97 with 41.2 g of 50% NaOH. After sampling, 135.3 g of the neutralized brine was stripped at atmospheric pressure until 74.5 g of water had been removed and NaCl had precipitated. The slurry was filtered under vacuum through a coarse sintered glass filter and the filter cake was washed with 20 g of saturated brine to yield 13.5 g of white wet cake that weighed 12.0 g after drying. The dry cake assayed as 99.8% NaCl. The viscous filtrate contained 15.0 % MIDA, 8.9% PMIDA and 6.5% NaCl, which accounted for 9.2% of the chloride in the initial solution.

2. In an apparatus similar to but larger than that described in Example 1,466 g of a PMIDA process brine having a composition of 0.15% IDA, 0.8% MIDA, 3.0% PMIDA, 15. 9% HC1 and an undetermined amount of H3PO3 and H3PO4 was neutralized to pH=6.8 with 217 g of 50% NaOH. A 450 g portion of the neutralized brine was stripped at 210 mm Hg (27 kPa) and a final pot temperature of 96°C until 273 g of water had been

removed and NaCl had precipitated. The slurry (177 g) was filtered under vacuum through a coarse sintered glass filter and the filter cake was washed with 56 g of 25.7% NaCl brine to yield 81 g of off-white salt cake after drying. The dry cake assayed as 98.5% NaCl and still contained 1.1% PMIDA. The viscous filtrate contained 9.1% PMIDA and 3.0% NaCl, which accounted for 1.9% of the chloride in the initial solution.