An Overview on the Treatment and Management of the Desalination Brine Solution

Abstract

Due to the increasing limitations of water resources, application of desalination plants is expanding. One of the constraints associated with desalination plant operation is the production of concentrated solution, which is known as brine and can lead to critical challenges in the environment due to its high level of salinity. In this regard, many different disposal options used recently to control and prevent the environmental issues may be caused by the brine. Evaporation ponds, surface water discharge, and deep well injection are considered as the most well-known options to properly dispose concentrated brine. However, the application of these methods is highly restricted by capital cost and their limited uses. The treatment methods vary in terms of their ability in organics removal and can be divided into three different conventional groups as biological, physicochemical, and oxidation. In recent years, more attention has been paid to membrane-based technologies due to their economic performance in recovering precious resources and providing potable water with high recovery rates. This book chapter provides some critical reviews on recent technologies including treatment operations and disposal options to manage concentrated solutions from desalination plants. Finally, electrodialysis, forward osmosis, and membrane distillation as emerging membrane processes are examined in this chapter.

Geospatial Multi-Criteria Approach for Ranking Suitable Shallow Aquifers for the Implementation of an On-Farm Solar-PV Desalination System for Sustainable Agriculture

“…It is less effective in certain regions, especially in the north east where evaporation is lower and where land is fertile and more expensive. It is possible to find other more effective solutions that could be more attractive for the farmers, such as surface water discharge (river or sea) and deep well injection [55,56]. However, these options are very site-specific and should be preceded by environmental impact studies and need approval from the local or national authorities in order to avoid the negative impact on the environment [57,58].…”

Reverse Osmosis Concentrate: Physicochemical Characteristics, Environmental Impact, and Technologies

“…Figure 4 shows the conceptual scheme for ROC disposal options. Factors affecting the appropriate disposal options of ROC are quality, volume, physical and geographical locations of the output point of the concentrate, economic aspects, social acceptance, authorization of the option, availability of the disposal site, and the feasibility of facility development [18,101]. However, one of the most important factors to be considered before selecting an option is the cost of brine disposal, which impedes the extended use of this process [101].…”

“…Factors affecting the appropriate disposal options of ROC are quality, volume, physical and geographical locations of the output point of the concentrate, economic aspects, social acceptance, authorization of the option, availability of the disposal site, and the feasibility of facility development [18,101]. However, one of the most important factors to be considered before selecting an option is the cost of brine disposal, which impedes the extended use of this process [101]. Hence, emerging technologies consider the circular economy of the process, for example, the production of hydrochloric acid and caustic soda by electrodialysis [72], or the obtaining of salts such as Anhydrite (CaSO4), Bischofite (MgCl2*6H2O), Calcite (CaCO3), Carnalite (MgCl2*KCl*6H2O), Dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2), Epsomite (MgSO4*7H2O), Gypsum (CaSO4*2H2O), Halite (NaCl), Hexahydrite (MgSO4*6H2O), Kieserite (MgSO4*H2O), Langbeinite (K2SO4*2MgSO4), Mirabilite (K2SO4*10H2O) + NaCl), Silvite (KCl), and Thenardite (Na2SO4) by evaporation-crystallization [102].…”

“…Conventional technologies have focused on removing contaminants from brine before safe disposal for the beneficial use of recovered brine solutions or open water bodies. Chemical precipitation, coagulation, oxidation and biological processes, or combinations thereof, can be used for brine treatment [101]. Several authors have explored the chemical precipitation process for extensive removal of scale-forming ions [58,147,148].…”

Current available treatment technologies for saline wastewater and land‐based treatment as an emerging environment‐friendly technology: A review

“…For instance, salts (sodium chloride) are commonly used in many western foods (Feigin et al, 2012; Mitchell, 2016; Shemsanga et al, 2017). The food industries use brine solutions and salts (Sodium chloride in particular) to perform preservation activities for various products such as fish products, pickling of vegetables, dairy, and meat canning which produce saline wastewater (Katal et al, 2020). Olive mills and industries generate a huge amount of wastewater during the process of extraction in olive oil generating countries and pose serious threats such as organic pollution of water bodies and biological systems due to its higher toxicity (Tekaya et al, 2018; Zouari et al, 2020).…”