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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/zero-liquid-discharge-simulation-and-modeling-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Water & Environmental · Patent LandscapeZero Liquid Discharge Simulation and Modeling Patents
- Small, fragmented field. just 43 patent families worldwide since 2015, with no single assignee holding a commanding position across the corpus.
- Filing activity is flat, not rising. the 2022 midpoint sits at only 2 filings despite a 2024 peak of 13, suggesting bursts of activity rather than sustained investment.
- Oilfield and refining IPC classes outweigh pure water treatment. C10G (hydrocarbon refining) and E21B (drilling) together approach the C02F (water treatment) count, showing ZLD modeling patents are as much an oilfield tool as an environmental one.
43
Published Records
79%
Top-5 Share of All Records
US
Leading Jurisdiction
17
Active Filers Ranked
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) simulation and modeling patents describe the software, control logic and process design methods used to predict evaporator, crystallizer and brine-concentration performance before a plant is built or retrofitted. This search isolates records that combine ZLD or brine-minimization language with evaporation modeling, crystallization kinetics modeling, or process simulation claims, rather than the much larger body of general ZLD hardware patents.
The 43 families in this corpus span receiving offices led by the United States, with Canada and WIPO PCT filings also well represented, reflecting the oilfield and heavy-industry origins of much of the technology. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so filings from the last one to two years are undercounted in the trend below.
Filing activity, 2017-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Zero Liquid Discharge Simulation and Modeling covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Data
Filing trends and technology composition
The trend line and IPC breakdown together show a field that grew in bursts around specific industrial needs rather than through steady, compounding investment.
A flat-to-declining trajectory with one sharp peak
Filings sat at zero in 2017 and only 2 at the 2022 midpoint, before spiking to 13 in 2024, the peak year so far. That pattern points to episodic filing tied to specific projects or disputes rather than a maturing, continuously invested technology area.
Oilfield and refining classes rival water treatment
C02F (water and wastewater treatment) leads with 16 records, but C10G (hydrocarbon refining) at 15 and E21B (drilling) at 13 are close behind, with C25B (electrolytic production) at 12 also prominent. This mix confirms that ZLD simulation patents are heavily used to model brine and steam behaviour in oil, gas and steam-assisted extraction operations, not only in municipal or industrial wastewater plants.
Shares are the percentage of the 43 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Zero Liquid Discharge Simulation and Modeling covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
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Representative filing and most-cited prior art
Representative record
Methods of seawater softening for desalination and mineral extraction (US20240166543A1)
HAMAD BIN KHALIFA UNIVERSITY
Filed by Hamad Bin Khalifa University in 2024, this record discloses seawater softening ahead of thermal or membrane desalination using carbon mineralization, integrating captured CO2 with seawater feed to strip minerals and co-produce carbonates such as Ca/Mg carbonates and BaSO4 before or after the desalination step.Selected as representative of current filing activity rather than as the most-cited record in the corpus.
Most-cited records in this corpus
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US8424601B2 | System and method for minimizing the negative enviromental impact of the oilsands industry | 77 |
| 2 | US20120000642A1 | Steam driven direct contact steam generation | 59 |
| 3 | US20100147516A1 | System and method for minimizing the negative enviromental impact of the oilsands industry | 59 |
| 4 | WO2004036327A1 | System for acquiring data from a facility and method | 31 |
| 5 | CA2748477A1 | Steam drive direct contact steam generation | 14 |
| 6 | CA2752558A1 | Steam driven direct contact steam generation | 13 |
| 7 | US9114406B2 | Steam driven direct contact steam generation | 11 |
| 8 | US20130233771A1 | System and method for minimizing the negative enviromental impact of the oilsands industry | 5 |
| 9 | US20240400908A1 | Production of synthetic hydrocarbons | 4 |
| 10 | US20200115258A1 | Decontamination of fluids via joule-heating | 4 |
Citation counts favour older filings within the searched corpus; treat them as a signal of historical influence on the field, not of current filing activity.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Zero Liquid Discharge Simulation and Modeling covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once family counts, IPC composition and the citation table are read together.
Concentration
43 families total
corpus size
No dominant assignee has emerged
With only 43 families across more than a decade, and momentum data showing several assignees at zero filings in the latest year, this is a field without an entrenched leader. That leaves room for a well-drafted application to establish a strong position rather than fight through a thicket.
Based on the assignee ranking and recent-year momentum data.
Citation influence
77 citations
top-cited record
Old oilsands patents still anchor the citation graph
The most-cited records, including US8424601B2 at 77 citations and US20120000642A1 at 59, both concern oilsands steam and environmental-impact systems rather than pure simulation software. New entrants should expect examiners to cite these as foundational art even when the claimed invention is a modeling method, not the process itself.
Citation counts favour earlier filings in any searched corpus.
Filing geography
17 US filings
leading office
US, Canada and PCT dominate the venue mix
The United States leads with 17 receiving-office filings, followed by Canada and WIPO PCT at 8 each. Europe, Australia and India each show only 2, indicating that protection strategy for this technology has so far been concentrated in North America and via PCT rather than pursued broadly across other major markets.
Based on receiving-office counts across the 43-family corpus.
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to zero liquid discharge simulation and modeling, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Zero Liquid Discharge Simulation and Modeling covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is active, and where the claim space is still open
Assignee activity in this corpus is thin and largely inactive in the most recent year, which is itself informative: it suggests the technical problem is still open rather than settled by an incumbent.
Momentum
0 in latest year
several assignees
Prior filers have gone quiet
Recent-year momentum data shows assignees such as Arcadia eFuels, Ohio University, Betzer Zilevitch Maoz and Zed I Solutions Canada all recording zero filings in the latest year, several down 100% year-on-year. That drop-off, rather than a rising leader, is the dominant recent trend in this dataset.
Based on recent-year momentum by assignee.
Collaboration
5 co-assignee pairs
co-filing
Co-filing is limited and centred on one group
Only 5 co-assignee pairs appear in the corpus, and the strongest links all involve Zed I Solutions Canada paired with individual named inventors. This points to inventor-led filing within a small organisation rather than broad industry partnership on ZLD simulation work.
Based on co-assignee pair counts.
Institutional entrants
2024-05-23 filing date
representative record
Universities are entering via desalination-adjacent claims
The representative record from Hamad Bin Khalifa University, filed in 2024, shows academic and government-linked institutions filing on desalination pre-treatment and mineral-recovery methods that touch ZLD process design, an entry point distinct from the oilfield-operator filings that dominate the older citation table.
Based on the representative record and its filing date.
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| ARCADIA EFUELS US INC | 0 | -100% |
| Ohio University | 0 | -100% |
| BETZER ZILEVITCH MAOZ | 0 | — |
| BETABER ZILEVITCH MAOZ | 0 | — |
| Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development | 0 | — |
| ZED I SOLUTIONS CANADA | 0 | — |
| King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | 0 | -100% |
| EX TAR TECH | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Zero Liquid Discharge Simulation and Modeling covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to look next
The dataset points to a few concrete follow-up checks before committing a filing or freedom-to-operate strategy.
Check the oilfield citation base directly
Because the two highest-cited records concern oilsands environmental systems rather than modeling software per se, pull those files and their prosecution history before drafting claims that touch steam-driven or direct-contact evaporation.
Explore citation trees in EurekaTrack the quiet assignees for revival
Several assignees dropped to zero filings in the latest year; a renewed filing from any of them would signal a shift back toward this technology and is worth a standing watch.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaTest claim scope against the under-claimed branches
Digital-twin control loops and real-time fouling prediction show thin coverage relative to core evaporation and crystallization modeling claims, making them candidates for a first-mover filing.
Run a white-space search in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Zero Liquid Discharge Simulation and Modeling covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
These are patents that claim software, algorithms or process-design methods for predicting how a ZLD system will behave, rather than the physical evaporator or crystallizer hardware itself. Typical claim language covers evaporation modeling, crystallization kinetics modeling and broader process simulation applied to brine concentration or minimization. This landscape isolates that narrower slice, which is why the corpus is only 43 families despite ZLD hardware patents numbering far more broadly.
No single assignee holds a dominant share of this 43-family corpus, and recent-year momentum data shows several past filers, including Zed I Solutions Canada and Ohio University, recording zero filings in the latest year. The most-cited underlying patents trace back to oilsands environmental-impact systems rather than a specialist ZLD software vendor. This is a fragmented field rather than one led by a clear incumbent.
C10G (hydrocarbon refining) and E21B (drilling) together carry nearly as many records as C02F (water treatment), because ZLD simulation tools are widely used to model steam and brine behaviour in oilsands and steam-assisted oil recovery operations. Refineries and drilling operators need to predict evaporator and boiler performance for their own produced-water streams, which brings their filings into this same search. Anyone benchmarking against pure water-utility competitors should filter for C02F specifically rather than reading the full corpus as environmental-sector activity.
The flat-to-declining filing trend, with only 2 filings at the 2022 midpoint against a 2024 peak of 13, suggests the field moves in bursts tied to specific projects rather than steady growth, and no assignee has locked up the space. That combination, thin overall coverage plus an absence of a dominant filer, favours a well-drafted application over waiting, particularly in identified white-space branches like digital-twin control loops or real-time fouling prediction. A freedom-to-operate check against the high-citation oilsands patents is still advisable before drafting.
US20240166543A1 discloses methods for softening seawater ahead of thermal or membrane desalination using carbon mineralization, integrating captured CO2 with the seawater feed to strip minerals and produce byproducts such as Ca/Mg carbonates and BaSO4. It is a pre-treatment and mineral-recovery method rather than a core evaporator or crystallizer simulation claim. Anyone working on desalination pre-treatment integrated with ZLD downstream steps should review its specific process-flow claims for overlap.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Zero Liquid Discharge Simulation and Modeling covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.