Numerical solutions for the treatment brine by diffusive and migration flux using new brine-clay-seawater system

With the growing world population and industrial production, the demand for water has been continuously increasing. By 2030, 60.0% of the world population will not have access to freshwater, which is ∼2.50% of the total global water. For this, a total of over 17,000 operational desalination plants h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental management 2023-07, Vol.338, p.117844-117844, Article 117844
Main Authors: Zacchei, Enrico, Gorla Nogueira, Caio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brine
Clay
Desalination
Electrokinetic
Electromigration phenomena
Electroosmosis flux
Mechanical diffusion
Salinity
Seawater
Water
Water Purification
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Summary:With the growing world population and industrial production, the demand for water has been continuously increasing. By 2030, 60.0% of the world population will not have access to freshwater, which is ∼2.50% of the total global water. For this, a total of over 17,000 operational desalination plants have been constructed worldwide. However, the key barrier to desalination expansion is brine production, which is 50.0% higher than the freshwater, generating 5.0–33.0% of total desalination cost. In this paper, a new theoretical approach for brine treatments has been proposed. It consists in combining electrokinetic and electrochemical mechanisms by using an alkaline clay with high buffering power. Advanced numerical model has been carried out to estimate the ions concentrations in the brine-clay-seawater system. Analytical analyses have been also carried out to estimate the global system efficiency. Results show the feasibility of the theoretical system, its size, and usability of the clay. This model not only should clean the brine to produce new treated seawater but also it should recover useful minerals thank to the electrolysis and precipitations effects. •Innovative brine-clay-seawater system for the brine treatment is proposed.•Electrokinetic principles under applied electrical field are used.•Numerical and analytical analyses have been carried out.•Results provide ion concentrations, feasibility of the system, its size, and usability of the clay.•The brine production is 50.0% higher than the obtained freshwater.
ISSN:0301-4797
1095-8630
DOI:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117844