Desalination Brine Research Articles

Gradient-Charged Hydrogels for Highly Efficient Solar Steam Generation and Desalination.

Solar-driven interface desalination (SDID) is a promising and sustainable technology that produces freshwater from brine. Ionic hydrogels are effective evaporators, providing enhanced interaction with water and ions due to the charged groups on hydrophilic polymer networks. In this study, we developed a hydrogel-based solar steam generator with a gradient-charged (GC) structure for desalination. The gradient-charged groups' distribution on the hydrogels creates gradients of free water and osmotic pressure, realizing rapid water supplement as well as desalination of concentrated brine. Consequently, the GC hydrogel demonstrated an exceptional water evaporation rate, achieving a value as high as 2.61 kg m-2 h-1 in pure water and 1.72 kg m-2 h-1 on treating with 20 wt % NaCl solution under one sun illumination. Following the substantial solar-driven evaporation, impurities, including salt and other pollutants, were removed, thereby ensuring the purity of the condensed water. Overall, the GC hydrogel-based evaporator is a promising solution for SDID to achieve effective and sustainable water desalination.

Simulation of a Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System Integrated with Vacuum Membrane Distillation for Desalination Brine Treatment

Simulation of a Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System Integrated with Vacuum Membrane Distillation for Desalination Brine Treatment

Multistage modified Solvay process based on calcium oxide for carbon dioxide capture and reject brine desalination

Previous studies have investigated the overall performance of the modified Solvay process based on calcium oxide (CaO). In the modified process, calcium oxide (CaO) is reacted with brine salts and carbon dioxide. The results confirmed its effectiveness in capturing CO2 and managing reject brine in a single reaction. However, more attention is needed to overcome the low sodium (Na+) removal efficiency, which does not exceed 35 %. Therefore, the main objective of this research work to develop a novel technique where reject brine is passed through a total of seven stages. In each stage, a specific metal ion is recovered. In the first stage, a 100 % recovery of magnesium ions in the form of magnesium hydroxide solid was obtained by chemical reaction with ammonia (NH3) solution. Then, in the second stage, the ammoniated brine was treated based on the traditional Solvay process, where Na+ reduction, in the form of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), and CO2 uptake reached almost 32.97 % and 37 g of CO2/1000 ml of treated brine, respectively. In the third stage, the electrocoagulation process (EC) was used to recover the sulfate ions (SO42-) in the form of pure calcium sulfate solid and also for the regeneration of NH3 as ammonium hydroxide leading to a total reduction of 96.5 % for SO42- ions. In the fourth stage, CaO was added to the treated brine according to the modified Solvay process. Reductions of 37.98 % and 27.97 % in Na+ and chloride (Cl−) ions were achieved, respectively. In stage 5, more recovery of NaHCO3 was attained by adding ammonium bicarbonate, while in stage 6, the treated brine mixture was passed through a second modified Solvay process. The CO2 uptake reached up to 60 g of CO2/1000 ml. In addition, Na+, Ca2+, K+, and Cl− removal was improved with 47.22 %, 56.33 %, 72.12 % and 34.41 %, respectively. In the last stage, the treated brine was inserted into the second EC process to recover CaCl2 solution and NH3 compounds. The overall reductions of for Na+, Ca2+, K+, and Cl− were 51 %, 93.59, 79 %, and 43.63 %, respectively. Moreover, solid products from each stage were characterized using SEM, XRD, FTIR, and Raman analyses. The products of each stage have diverse industrial applications.

Pollution Prevention- Recovery of Copper Resource from Desalination Brine through LIX 984N/Kerosene System

Pollution Prevention- Recovery of Copper Resource from Desalination Brine through LIX 984N/Kerosene System

Multi-Functional Janus Hollow Solar Evaporator Based on Copper Foam for Non-Contact High-Efficiency Solar Interfacial Distillation.

As a sustainable, clean, and friendly technology with a minimal carbon footprint when treating seawater or wastewater, interfacial solar vapor generation (ISVG) technology is a great alternative to traditional desalination and water purification methods (e.g., reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration). So far, it presents tremendous potential for applications in realizing desalination of seawater or brine, wastewater treatment, and so forth. However, the precipitated salt particles during conventional ISVG inevitably block the evaporator surface, resulting in the degradation of photothermal conversion and decrease of evaporation rate. Herein, a multi-functional non-contact Janus hollow evaporator based on copper foam was prepared, which was assembled by a hydrophobic light-to-heat conversion layer and a hydrophilic interfacial water evaporation layer as two separate parts. Accordingly, the precipitated salt in the ISVG system does not block the photothermal interface, increasing the stability of solar capture and reusability of the evaporator. Notably, the hollow structure of the evaporator has a local interfacial heating effect, endowing the evaporation system with a high seawater evaporation rate of 2.249 kg m-2 h-1. The evaporator is capable of stable operation for 10 h under 1 sun illumination even when evaporating concentrated brine (15 wt %). Moreover, the evaporation rate of water under one sun irradiation reached 2.284 kg m-2 h-1 and the solar-to-vapor efficiency reached 96.6%. Not only that, the evaporator was able to successfully purify wastewater containing dyes and heavy metal ions. The multi-functional Janus hollow interfacial solar evaporator will provide inspiration for upcoming research on the production of safety water.

Salt-resistance holocellulose-based solar steam evaporator for desalination brine water

Interfacial solar-powered water evaporation is a cost-effective and sustainable approach using solar energy for seawater desalination. Nevertheless, salt accumulation during solar desalination generally restricts the widespread application of solar vapor generation. Herein, taking merits of the excellent hydrophilicity and inherent porosity of holocellulose (HC), An excellent salt-resistant solar steam evaporator for long-term interfacial solar water desalination was fabricated by decorating polypyrrole (PPy) on the surface of HC. Due to the broadband light absorbance of PPy and the superhydrophilic HC substrate, the PPy-HC evaporator exhibited a high evaporation rate of 1.45 kg m−2 h−1 and conversion efficiency of 93.4 % in a 5 wt% NaCl solution under one sun illumination. Importantly, the evaporator presented superior salt-resistance and stability during long-term cycling test in high salinity brine. This work reveals the key role of superhydrophilicity and water transportation capability in high salt solution solar-driven desalination. Thus, this work provides an effective approach to address the issue of salt accumulation of the traditional evaporator, demonstrating its great potential for real-world solar-driven seawater desalination.

Theoretical and experimental investigation of reverse osmosis (RO) desalination solar system using the solar panel, battery, and water turbine for high-pressure recovery of output brine

Drinking water shortage is one of the most critical risks threatening current communities. The number of freshwater resources is decreasing due to industrialization and population growth in addition to unprecedented consumption. Brine desalination processes are the solution that helps to overcome this crisis. Among desalination techniques, reverse osmosis (RO) is the leading technique in this field. In this study, we investigate a desalination system, a photovoltaic/water turbine (PV/WT) panel based on the RO technique to provide the water required for several rural families living in Ilam at a small scale. This paper examines the exergy and economic analysis to measure the lifetime of equipment by using ESS Software. Results show that the lifetime of equipment equals 350, 73, 183, and 360$ for PV, WT, battery (B), and RO, respectively. On the other hand, the output rate of the PV panel and RO purification machine equals 12% and 35%, respectively. Also, three hybrid arrangements are examined: PV + RO, PV + B + RO, and PV + WT + B + RO, and the most efficient arrangement is introduced in which, the maximum water desalination volume is 150L per day, and the TDS rate of output water is decreased up to 120 ppm, and the produced drinking water throughout the project equals 25 m3. Moreover, solar and WT panels generate 120 and 20 kw/h of electricity over the project time, respectively.

Perspective in resource recovery from reverse osmosis brines: the case for sustainable seawater refineries for small islands

AbstractReverse osmosis has become the dominant technique for desalination while at the same time there is a steady increase in reliance on desalination systems for water production globally. Resource recovery and mitigation of adverse effects from brine discharge are important factors and are increasingly being considered by researchers and industrial actors. The island nation of Aruba, with over 100 years of commercial desalination history, is used as a case study to illustrate the possibilities of shifting from centralized seawater desalination plants to seawater refineries in which freshwater is considered only one of the possible products. We identify possible economic value from desalination plants of medium scale (as is the case in Aruba) from the production of magnesium, caustic soda, chlorine‐based products and rubidium and possible energy recovery possibilities through osmotic gradients and/or hydrogen storage while at the same time highlighting the insufficient potential for lithium harvesting from seawater desalination brines. We have found that the economic value from resources recovered from brine may be even larger than the value of the freshwater produced by these plants. Furthermore, reduction of salinity and quantity of brine can reduce the overall ecological impact from current brine effluents. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

UiO-66-NH2 MOF/organosilica mixed-matrix membrane for water desalination

A new amine-functionalized UiO-66/organosilica mixed-matrix membrane was fabricated and explored for pervaporation (PV) water desalination. The incorporation of amine-functionalized UiO-66 (UiO-66-NH2) into the BTESE-derived organosilica networks endowed the membrane with enhanced hydrophilicity and dense network structure, leading to an improvement in water flux and NaCl rejection. The UiO-66-NH2/BTESE mixed-matrix membrane was proved to be highly effective for desalination of saline water in concentrations from 1 to 13 wt% of dissolved NaCl. Moreover, the membrane exhibited superior structural stability under a continuous PV desalination operation up to 100 h, delivering water permeance of >3.1 × 10−6 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1 combined with NaCl rejection of >99.9%. The high water permeance was mainly ascribed to the specific pore structure and the preferential interactions between pore channels and water molecules, and the excellent salt rejection was primarily based on the sieving effect. The proposed UiO-66-NH2/BTESE mixed-matrix membranes show great prospects as an alternative for concentrated brine desalination.

Effects of desalination brine on the fecundity of brine shrimp Artemia franciscana fed on rice bran

Abstract Brine water drained from the desalination stations represents environmental concerns because of its extremely high salinity. Artemia (brine shrimp) is one of the crustaceans that can live in increased saline water. So, it can live in the desalination brine water. This study investigated the possibility of growing Artemia (Artemia franciscana), an essential live food for the aquaculture industry, in the brine water disposed of during the desalination process. Nine reproductive characteristics were examined for Artemia growing in desalination brine water, compared to seawater. Both types of water were brought from the Rumaila water desalination facility on the Mediterranean Sea in Marsa Matrouh, Egypt. The experiment included brine water of salinities: 50, 60, 70, and 80 ppt and two seawater salinities: 38 and 50 ppt. The food source used was the rice bran suspension to feed Artemia during the experiment. The results illustrated that the pre-reproductive and reproductive periods and % offspring encysted had higher values in higher salinities of brine water than seawater. The rate of offspring encysted in the brine water of 70 ppt reached 72.42%, followed by the brine water of 60 ppt. The results showed that the Artemia could grow in the brine water of the desalination plants till the adult stage. The results show no significant difference between both types of water in some variables.

Effect of fiber surface functionalization on adsorption behavior of uranium from seawater desalination brine

Inspired by the easy availability and modification of fiber-like materials for water treatment and sorption applications, the functionalized natural fiber luffa cylindrica (LC) and synthetic fiber polyacrylonitrile (PAN) have been designed for the uranium adsorption. Seawater desalination brine has a significantly higher concentration of uranyl ion, so it is very meaningful to extract uranyl ions from it. In this paper, the seawater from seawater desalination plant at various treatment stages was collected to evaluate uranium adsorption performance. The effect of flocculant and scale inhibitors on uranium adsorption performance of functional fibers was also studied. The oxime/guanidine co-modified luffa cylindrica fiber (WGLC), guanidine/amidoxime co-modified polyacrylonitrile fiber (PAN-G-AO) and polyethyleneimine modified polyacrylonitrile fiber (PAN-PEI) were synthesized. PAN-G-AO showed excellent uranium capture performance with a high saturation adsorption capacity of 490.20 mg g−1 and rapid adsorption equilibrium at 15 min. Amount of uranium adsorption of three materials declined when flocculant and scale inhibitors were added. The results of adsorption experiments in various stages of seawater desalination solution for 30 days showed that adsorption materials PAN-G-AO had the largest adsorption capacity (18.6 μg g−1) in the concentrated desalinated seawater, which demonstrate promising application potential of the functionalized fiber materials for uranium adsorption from desalinated concentrated seawater.

Desalination concentrate microalgae cultivation: biomass production and applications

The environmental consequences of desalination concentrate disposal have limited the practical adoption of desalination systems for inland brackish water. Desalination concentrate, which is generated by desalination facilities, has the ability to offer water and nutrients for microalgal growth. A useful application for concentrate from desalination systems is required to boost the feasibility of installing desalination procedures for both inland brackish and seawater plants. Several research has been conducted to investigate the use of desalination concentrate as a medium for microalgal culture. This paper reviews the impact of desalination concentrate on microalgal productivity by describing instances of microalgae cultivated in desalination concentrate. Based on the research results, it was found that Chlorella vulgaris, Scendesmus quadricauda, S. platensis, Nannochloropsis oculata and Dunaliella tertiolecta can be cultivated on desalination brine. Also, the paper reviews the different applications of these types which may contribute to adding revenue that will reduce the cost of desalinated water.

One-step uranium extraction and brine desalination via adsorptive pervaporation by graphene-oxide scaffold membranes

The ocean reserves nearly four billion tons of uranium, providing an inexhaustible supply of nuclear energy if the limits of ultralow U(VI) concentration (3.3 µg·L−1) are addressed. Membrane technology is promising to make this happen by simultaneous U(VI) concentration and extraction. Herein, we report a pioneering adsorption-pervaporation membrane for efficient enrichment and capture of U(VI) along with clean water production. A bifunctional poly(dopamine–ethylenediamine) and graphene oxide 2D scaffold membrane was developed and further crosslinked by glutaraldehyde, capable of recovering over 70% U(VI) and water from simulated seawater brine, which validates the feasibility of one-step water recovery, brine concentration, and uranium extraction from seawater brine. Moreover, compared with other membranes and adsorbents, this membrane exhibits fast pervaporation desalination (flux: 153.3 kg·m−2·h−1, rejection: >99.99%) and excellent uranium capture properties of 228.6 mg·m−2 benefiting from plentiful functional groups provided by embedded poly(dopamine–ethylenediamine). This study aims to provide a strategy for recovering critical elements from the ocean.

Development of construction materials using red mud and brine

This study aims to develop new applications for seawater desalination brine, which is discharged from desalination plants and disposed of in the sea. To this end, experiments were conducted to develop and characterize high-volume red mud cement using 50% or more red mud, which is a hazardous waste. Thirty mixtures of 50–90% red mud and 50–10% slag and CaO were prepared. To compare them with brine, freshwater was also used as mixed water. According to experiments, the smaller the red mud, the higher the strength. CaO also showed a significant improvement in early and late-stage strength. In addition, brine promoted hydration reaction and the formation of hydration reactants more than freshwater. The results show that both CaO and brine have a significant synergistic effect on the hydration and solidification of high-volume red mud slag cement. Therefore, it is concluded that the combination of brine and high-volume red mud slag cement is applicable to the production of non-structural elements and small building components.

Evaluation of the nanofiltration of brines from seawater desalination plants as pre-treatment in a multimineral brine extraction process

Many materials essential to the European Union's (EU) economy lack primary resources, and the major suppliers of these materials are non-EU nations. It has been determined that seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination brines are a circular answer for the supply of critical elements. SWRO desalination brines, however, are distinguished by high concentrations of elements with negligible economic worth. (e.g., Na, Cl) compared to critical elements present in very low concentrations (e.g. Mg, B, Sc, V, In, Ga, Li, Mo, Rb). Therefore, an efficient separation pre-treatment is necessary to maximize the recovery efficiency in a brine extraction process. Nanofiltration (NF) was proposed as pre-treatment stage to separate monovalent from divalent ions and it was investigated if a Ca(II) removal stage was necessary before the NF to avoid scaling. The performances of three polyamide commercial membranes (NF270, Fortilife XC-N and PRO-XS2) treating SWRO brine (brine 1) and Ca(II)-free SWRO brine (after Ca(II) removal with sodium bicarbonate - brine 2) were evaluated in a closed circuit configuration as a function of the applied pressure from 6 to 30 bar.Results showed that NF was an efficient process to separate target elements present in seawater desalination brine into two different streams. Moreover, removal of Ca(II) before the NF step (brine 2) increased the selectivity between multivalent and monovalent species (higher rejection of multivalent and lower rejection of monovalent species compared to brine 1) for all the membranes tested, reaching the highest selectivity at 20 bar. At 20 bar, the polyamide membrane PRO-XS2 presented rejections of 71% for Ca(II) and 89% for Mg(II) and the highest selectivity in experiments with brine 2, being recommended for this application. In addition, the transport of species was characterized by membrane permeances by using the Solution-Electro-Diffusion-Film model. The scaling assessment at the membrane surface showed a lower scaling potential if Ca(II) was removed before the NF stage.

Three-Dimensional Mirror-Assisted and Concave Pyramid-Shaped Solar-Thermal Steam Generator for Highly Efficient and Stable Water Evaporation and Brine Desalination.

Although significant advances have been achieved in developing solar-driven water evaporators for seawater desalination, there is still room for simultaneously enhancing water evaporation efficiency, salt resistance, and utilization of solar energy. Herein, for the first time, we demonstrate a highly efficient three-dimensional (3D) mirror-assisted and concave pyramid-shaped solar-thermal water evaporation system for high-yield and long-term desalination of seawater and brine water, which consists of a 3D concave pyramid-shaped solar-thermal architecture on the basis of polypyrrole-coated nonwoven fabrics (PCNFs), a 3D mirror array, a self-floating polystyrene foam layer, and a tail-like PCNF for upward transport of water. The 3D concave pyramid-shaped solar-thermal architecture enables multiple solar light reflections to absorb more solar energy, while the 3D mirror-assisted solar light enhancement design can activate the solar-thermal energy conversion of the back side of the concave pyramid-shaped PCNF architecture to improve the solar-thermal energy conversion efficiency. Crucially, selective accumulation of the precipitated salts on the back side of the concave pyramid-shaped architecture is realized, ensuring a favorable salt-resistant feature. The 3D mirror-assisted and concave pyramid-shaped solar-driven water evaporation system achieves a record high water evaporation rate of 4.75 kg m-2 h-1 under 1-sun irradiation only and exhibits long-term desalination stability even when evaporating high-salinity brine waters, demonstrating its great applicability and reliability for high-yield solar-driven desalination of seawater and high-salinity brine water.

Modelling of heat transfer for progressive freeze desalination utilizing the vertical freezing apparatus

This study presents an analytical study of heat transfer for progressive freeze desalination of brackish water, seawater, and brine utilizing the vertical freezing apparatus. An analytical model was formulated by applying a heat balance at the ice-liquid interface. The model accounted for a reduced ice-liquid interface temperature during the process. Moreover, the convective heat transfer coefficient for the forced flow (saltwater and coolant) situation was considered in the model. The solution of the model predicts the rate of ice formation, ice thickness, and overall heat transfer coefficient. The influence of saltwater stirring rate, coolant temperature, initial concentration, and immerse speed of the crystallizer into the coolant on the rate of ice formation, ice thickness, and overall heat transfer coefficient was investigated. The analytical data of the rate of ice formation was compared with the experimental findings from the literature. The analytical data and the experimental findings matched reasonably. A marginal error between analytical and experimental data was observed in the range of 5%–8%. The model assists in understanding the heat transfer during the process.

Recovery of Lithium from Simulated Nanofiltration-Treated Seawater Desalination Brine Using Solvent Extraction and Selective Precipitation

ABSTRACT The world's seas and oceans contain vast amounts of lithium, but the low concentration hereof renders solvent extraction impractical for its recovery. By contrast, seawater desalination brine, after treatment by nanofiltration, contains a roughly tenfold greater concentration of lithium than raw seawater. Hence, lithium can be effectively recovered from such streams using solvent extaction. Compared with other techniques to sequester lithium from dilute solutions, solvent extraction offers the advantages of simple operations, robust and well-established technology and high recovery yields. Thus, we propose a solvent-extraction based process to recover lithium from seawater desalination brine, treated by nanofiltration. The first step comprises the removal of magnesium and calcium using methyltrioctylammonium neodecanoate in p-cymene. This is followed by a lithium extraction step using the extractants Mextral 54–100 and Cyanex 923 in Shellsol D70 diluent. The lithium extract is then scrubbed with water and stripped with hydrochloric acid. Subsequently, residual alkaline earth metals are removed with sodium hydroxide in ethanol and finally lithium is precipitated using sodium carbonate. The solvent extraction, scrubbing and stripping steps were demonstrated on mini-pilot scale in continuous countercurrent mode (in mixer-settlers), while the precipitation steps were demonstrated in batch. The process was found to have an overall yield of 74%, affording a lithium carbonate product with a purity of 97 wt%.

Computational Assessment of an Amine-Based Solvent Library for High-Salinity Brine Desalination

Human population growth has increased the demand for freshwater. Simultaneously, improvements to high-salinity brine desalination technology are needed to treat wastewater from expanding industrial activities. Temperature-swing solvent extraction (TSSE), initially proposed in the 1960s for low-salinity brine desalination, has recently been found to be effective for processing high-salinity brines. Although there have been several individual investigations performed to test the TSSE performance of various amine-based solvents, the desired molecular properties of the best solvent candidates remain unknown. Using molecular simulation data and an unsupervised learning method, the molecular characteristics of 60 different amine-based solvents are analyzed and grouped into clusters based on their thermodynamic properties, such as density, heat of vaporization, volumetric thermal expansion coefficient, solvent–solvent binding free energy, solvation free energy, and number of hydrogen-bonds. Solvents with features most similar to one of the best current TSSE solvents (diisopropylamine) were analyzed further by simulating brine–water interfacial systems. Among the 59 amine-based solvents compared to diisopropylamine, we find that secondary amines with a six-carbon branched or linear structure display the most promising TSSE performance and should be experimentally investigated in the future.

The economic value of the extracted elements from brine concentrates of Spanish desalination plants

The disposal of desalination brine, which contains a higher concentration of salts, is treated as waste and discharged into the environment. In this brine, several elements, when processing and extraction were possible, could be susceptible to exploitation and valorisation. Among all the ions existing in desalination brine, and whose industrial use is possible, sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and boron (B) are found at high concentrations; there are also other elements, not as abundant as previous, but highly demanded in the current industry, such as lithium (Li), rubidium (Rb), strontium (Sr) or gallium (Ga). These elements, as well as other alkaline metals, have taken on considerable prominence today due to their technological applications. Analysing the prices and quotations of these elements in the international markets for raw materials, it is possible to determine the economic potential of this mining activity of desalination plants in Spain. The economic value of the extracted elements also incorporates other additional advantages, which focus on the elimination, or reduction, of brine discharges, the savings in transportation and transaction costs of raw materials, in addition to the considerable reduction in environmental impacts caused by traditional mining.