Abstract
In this work we try to study the feasibility of salt production from a reject brine coming from a desalination plant in Skhira in the south of Tunisia, This plant treats 22,008 m3/day of raw water to produce 9984 m3 of fresh water and 12,024 m3 of rejected water and has the advantages of being environmentally friendly and producing commercial products in crystalline, slurry, and liquid forms. The process involves an application of the solubility diagrams in order to valorize the reject brines. These solutions are considered as strongly concentrated brines and containing several elements such as: Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, and SO4 2−. This observation leads us to consider the complete hexary system Na+, Mg2+, K+, Ca2+/Cl−, SO4 2−//H2O which includes four quinary systems. A number of physico-chemical analyses were employed (Potentiometry, complexometry, gravimetry, XRD, and SEM). At the end of an isothermal and isobaric evaporation of the reject brine, we could recover various salts (NaCl, KCl, CaSO4·2H2O, MgSO4·7H2O…) very useful for industry and agriculture.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M. Ahmed, A. Arakel, D. Hoey, M.R. Thumarukudy, M.F.A. Goosen, M. Al-Haddabi, and A. Al-Belushi, Feasibility of Salt Production from Inland RO Desalination Plant Reject Brine: A Case Study, Desalination, 2003, 158, p 109-117
J.M. Arnal, M. Sancho, I. Iborra, J.M. Gozalvez, A. Santafe, and J. Lora, Concentration of Brines from RO Desalination Plants by Natural Evaporation, Desalination, 2005, 182, p 435-439
H.K. Abdel-Aal, K.M. Ba-Lubaid, D.K. Al-Harbi, and A.A. Shaikh, Recovery of Mineral Salts and Potable Water from Desalting Plant Effluents by Evaporation. Part I. Evaluation of the Physical Properties of Highly Concentrated Brines, Separation Sci. Technol., 1990, 25(3), p 309-321
H.K. Abdel-Aal, K.M. Ba-Lubaid, A.A. Shaikh, and D.K. Al-Harbi, Recovery of Mineral Salts and Potable Water from Desalting Plant Effluents by Evaporation. Part II. Proposed Simulation System for Salt Recovery, Separation Sci. Technol., 1990, 25(4), p 437-461
Ö. Kilic and A.M. Kilic, Recovery of Salt Co-Products During the Salt Production from Brine, Desalination, 2005, 186, p 11-19
M. Ahmed, W.H. Shayya, D. Hoey, A. Mahendran, R. Morris, and J. Al-Handaly, Use of Evaporation Ponds for Brine Disposal in Desalination Plants, Desalination, 2000, 130, p 155-168
A.M.O. Mohamed, M. Maraqa, and J. Al Handhaly, Impact of Land Disposal of Reject Brine from Desalination Plants on Soil and Groundwater, Desalination, 2005, 182, p 411-433
E. Gacia, O. Invers, M. Manzanera, E. Ballesteros, and J. Romero, Impact of the Brine from a Desalination Plant on a Shallow Seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) Meadow, Estuar. Coastal Shelf Sci., 2007, 72, p 579-590
I. Munoz and A.R. Fernandez-Alba, Reducing the Environmental Impacts of Reverse Osmosis Desalination by Using Brackish Groundwater Resources, Water Res., 2007, doi:10.1016/j.watres.2007.08.021
T. Hoepner, A Procedure for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for Seawater Desalination Plants, Desalination, 1999, 124, p 1-12
E. Janecke, Ergänzung zu der neuen Darstellungsform der van’t Hoffschen Untersuchungen, Z. Anorg. Allgem. Chem., 1907, 53, p 319
J. d’Ans, Die Losungsgleichgewichte der Systeme der Salze Ozeanischer Salzablagerungen 2545 Kali-Forschung sanstalt, Verl. ges. F. Ackerbau, 1933
R. Berthon, Représentation des équilibres de solubilité et utilisation des diagrammes, Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1962, p 237-241
H.P. Eugster, C.E. Harvie, and J.H. Weare, Mineral Equilibria in a Six Component Seawater System, Na-K-Mg-Ca-SO4-Cl-H2O, at 25 °C, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1980, 44, p 1335-1347
H. Hammi, J. Musso, A. M’nif, and R. Rokbani, Crystallization Path of a Natural Brine Evaporation Using the DPAO Method, Desalination, 2004, 166, p 205-208
Acknowledgments
Authors would like to express their gratitude to all the people who have participated in this work. Part of the mentioned study was supported by the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT). Finally we also wish to thank the technical team for helpful assistance with the XRD and SEM analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hajbi, F., Hammi, H. & M’nif, A. Reuse of RO Desalination Plant Reject Brine. J. Phase Equilib. Diffus. 31, 341–347 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11669-010-9727-3
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11669-010-9727-3