Desalination of brackish groundwater: the concentrate dilemma

Nederlof, M.M.; Hoogendoorn, J.H.

doi:10.1016/j.desal.2005.03.024

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…In reverse osmosis (RO) desalination processes, the use of phosphonates prevents scaling, thus allowing for a higher product water recovery. − However, a major concern associated with their use in RO desalination is the high cost and environmental impacts associated with the discharge of the membrane concentrate or waste brine containing phosphonates. − Phosphonates contribute to the total phosphorus content and are considered to be compounds that promote eutrophication of the receiving surface water . In addition, the phosphonates used as antiscalants have not been identified to occur naturally and may influence the transport of heavy metals in the marine environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adsorption of Phosphonate Antiscalant from Reverse Osmosis Membrane Concentrate onto Granular Ferric Hydroxide

Boels

Keesman

Witkamp

2012

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Adsorptive removal of antiscalants offers a promising way to improve current reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate treatment processes and enables the reuse of the antiscalant in the RO desalination process. This work investigates the adsorption and desorption of the phosphonate antiscalant nitrilotris(methylenephosphonic acid) (NTMP) from RO membrane concentrate onto granular ferric hydroxide (GFH), a material that consists predominantly of akaganéite. The kinetics of the adsorption of NTMP onto GFH was predicted fairly well with two models that consider either combined film-pore or combined film-surface diffusion as the main mechanism for mass transport. It is also demonstrated that NTMP is preferentially adsorbed over sulfate by GFH at pH 7.85. The presence of calcium causes a transformation in the equilibrium adsorption isotherm from a Langmuir type to a Freundlich type with much higher adsorption capacities. Furthermore, calcium also increases the rate of adsorption substantially. GFH is reusable after regeneration with sodium hydroxide solution, indicating that NTMP can be potentially recovered from the RO concentrate. This work shows that GFH is a promising adsorbent for the removal and recovery of NTMP antiscalant from RO membrane concentrates.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adsorption of Phosphonate Antiscalant from Reverse Osmosis Membrane Concentrate onto Granular Ferric Hydroxide

Boels

Keesman

Witkamp

2012

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…By keeping the feed water and the membrane concentrate anoxic, the oxidation and precipitation of Fe(III) and Mn (IV) flocs can be completely prevented (Nederlof and Hoogendoorn 2005), thus facilitating the direct injection of the membrane concentrate without pretreatment.…”

Section: The Reverse Osmosis Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The pilots near Deventer (Nederlof and Hoogendoorn 2005) and Polder Groot Mijdrecht (Olsthoorn 2008) have been cancelled, so that they are not further discussed below. Permits for pilots in Noord-Bergum (Vitens) and Zevenbergen (Brabant Water) have recently been issued and both pilots were scheduled to start in summer 2009.…”

Section: Bwro Pilots In the Netherlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits and hurdles of using brackish groundwater as a drinking water source in the Netherlands

Stuyfzand

Raat

2009

Hydrogeol J

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The production of fresh drinking water from brackish groundwater by reverse osmosis (BWRO) is becoming more attractive, even in temperate climates. For successful application of BWRO, the following approach is advocated: (1) select brackish source groundwater with a large volume and a composition that will yield a concentrate (waste water) with low mineral saturation; (2) maintain the feed water salinity at a constant level by pumping several wells with different salinities; (3) keep the permeate-to-concentrate ratio low, to avoid supersaturation in the concentrate; (4) keep the system anoxic (to avoid oxidation reactions) and pressurized (to prevent formation of gas bubbles); and (5) select a confined aquifer for deep well injection where groundwater quality is inferior to the membrane concentrate. This approach is being tested at two BWRO pilot plants in the Netherlands. Research issues are the pumping of a stable brackish source water, the reverse osmosis system performance, membrane fouling, quality changes in the target aquifer as a result of concentrate disposal, and clogging of the injection well. First evaluations of the membrane concentrate indicate that it is crucial to understand the kinetics of mineral precipitation on the membranes, in the injection wells, and in the target aquifer.

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“…This results in a chloride load of 138 kg/d and 39×10 3 kg/d during low and high discharge periods. Assuming a reject chloride concentration of 8200 mg/L as released by the RO tandem system and 10% as the maximum permissible increase of chloride in the river (Nederlof and Hoogendoorn 2005), then the allowed disposal is, respectively, 2.5 m 3 /d and 470 m 3 /d in the lowest and highest discharge seasons, which holds for other chemical constituents as well. This makes the Damour River a suitable alternative for safe disposal of reject water during wet season.…”

Section: Options Of Concentrate Disposalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigation of saltwater intrusion by ‘integrated fresh-keeper’ wells combined with high recovery reverse osmosis

Khadra

Stuyfzand

Khadra

2017

Science of The Total Environment

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Most countermeasures to mitigate saltwater intrusion in coastal, karstic or fractured aquifers are hindered by anisotropy, high transmissivities and complex dynamics. A coupled strategy is introduced here as a localized remedy to protect shallow freshwater reserves while utilizing the deeper intercepted brackish water. It is a double sourcing application where fresh-keeper wells are installed at the bottom of a deepened borehole of selected salinized wells, and then supported by high recovery RO desalination. The RO design has <1kWh/m energy consumption, and up to 96% recovery in addition to low scaling propensity without use of any anti-scalant. A feasibility study is presented as an example for a salinizing, brackish well (TDS ~1600mg/L) in the Damour coastal aquifer in Lebanon. The concept is expected to produce ca. 1000m/d of freshwater from this well by pumping 250m/d of fresh groundwater from the top well screen and 800m/d of brackish groundwater (to be later desalinized) from the fresh-keeper well screen below. Cost analysis shows that the capital cost could be returned back in 1 to 4years depending on the choice of produced water (bottled or tap) and available market. As an alternative, water from the RO plant could be blended with lower quality water, for instance untreated brackish groundwater (if unpolluted), to supply 3 more volumes for domestic use. The usage of brackish groundwater from integrated fresh-keeper wells thus serves 3 purposes: production of high quality drinking water, financial gain and mitigation of water stress by overpumping.

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Desalination of brackish groundwater: the concentrate dilemma

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Adsorption of Phosphonate Antiscalant from Reverse Osmosis Membrane Concentrate onto Granular Ferric Hydroxide

Adsorption of Phosphonate Antiscalant from Reverse Osmosis Membrane Concentrate onto Granular Ferric Hydroxide

Benefits and hurdles of using brackish groundwater as a drinking water source in the Netherlands

Mitigation of saltwater intrusion by ‘integrated fresh-keeper’ wells combined with high recovery reverse osmosis

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