Environmental Aspects of Brine Management in Seawater Desalination

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 MSc Student, Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University

2 Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

Seawater desalination is recently considered as an important source for providing drinking water largely due to the increased water consumption as well as depletion of available and accessible water resources. This is especially important in case of Iran which is located in an arid region facing the challenges of water resources shortage. Due to the progressive development of seawater desalination processes, the discharge of brine can potentially bring about physical, chemical, and ecological effects on the environment of receiving water resources. Therefore, the necessity of more accurate and better understanding of such effects and different aspects of desalination processes as well as the brine as the by-product is undeniable. The focus in the present paper is investigation on the effects of brine discharge on the quality of various parameters in the receiving water and providing solutions for minimizing the side-effects. Techniques such as use of cooling water in power plants, combination of brine with municipal sewage, groundwater desalination, and proper selection of sites and discharge procedures are among the practical proposed strategies.

Keywords

References

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Iran-Water Resources Research
Volume 10, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
February 2015
Pages 104-112

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History

  • Receive Date: 26 April 2014
  • Accept Date: 06 January 2015

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