Enhanced process for selective salt recovery from wastewater, waste salts, and brines

A coal-to-chemical or coal-to-liquid process that includes recovering sulfate and chloride salt crystals, the process comprising:

• converting coal-to-chemical or liquid and producing a waste brine which contains sodium, sulfate and chloride;
• directing the waste brine to a nanofiltration device and filtering the waste brine to produce a permeate stream and a reject stream;
• directing the reject stream to a first concentration unit and concentrating the reject stream;
• directing the concentrated reject stream to a Mirabilite crystallizer and producing via cooling crystallization hydrated sulfate salt crystals;
• melting the hydrated sulfate salt crystals to form an aqueous sulfate solution or a slurry;
• directing the aqueous sulfate solution or slurry to a sodium sulfate crystallizer and crystallizing anhydrous sulfate salts from the aqueous sulfate solution or slurry to form the sodium sulfate salt crystals;
• directing the permeate stream from the nanofiltration device to a second concentration unit and concentrating the permeate stream;
• and
• directing the concentrated permeate stream to a sodium chloride crystallizer and producing the sodium chloride salt crystals.