Global population growth and climate change are adding pressure on conventional water sources to meet the rising demand. Reliance on unconventional water sources utilizing desalination technologies is increasing to ensure water security. A major economic and environmental challenge in the sustainable adoption of desalination is the hypersaline concentrate that is generated as a byproduct. Brine quantification estimation process and disposal strategies along with the associated costs are provided. Brine re-use for biomass production offers a promising solution to help mitigate the environmental and economic challenges related to brine disposal. Soil salinization is a key issue with the land application of brine impacting its sustainability and applicability in the long run. The paper proposes a methodology for multi-stage biomass production using desalination brine. Added advantage of the proposed methodology is the potential to manage soil salinization, adopt sustainable agricultural practices such as crop rotation and enhancing biodiversity through inclusion of marshlands and wetlands as part of the brine disposal strategy. The paper also proposes an experimental setup for lab scale experimentation and identifies research priorities and provides recommendations for further evaluation.
AbstractProper disposal of industrial brine has been a critical environmental challenge. Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) brine treatment holds great promise to the brine disposal, but its application is limited by the intensive energy consumption of its crystallization process. Here we propose a new strategy that employs an advanced solar crystallizer coupled with a salt crystallization inhibitor to eliminate highly concentrated waste brine. The rationally designed solar crystallizer exhibited a high water evaporation rate of 2.42 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun illumination when treating real concentrated seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine (21.6 wt%). The solar crystallizer array showed an even higher water evaporation rate of 48.0 kg m−2 per day in the outdoor field test, suggesting a great potential for practical application. The solar crystallizer design and the salt crystallization inhibition strategy proposed and confirmed in this work provide a low-cost and sustainable solution for industrial brine disposal with ZLD.
Ion exchange (IX) removes hexavalent chromium from water, but waste brine disposal makes implementation cost-prohibitive in many communities. Nanofiltration treats waste brine for reuse in the next regeneration cycle.
Inland Desalination Brine Disposal: A Baseline Study from Southern California on Brine Transport Infrastructure and Treatment Potential