Designing a next generation solar crystallizer for real seawater brine treatment with zero liquid discharge

Abstract

Proper disposal of industrial brine has been a critical environmental challenge. Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) brine treatment holds great promise to the brine disposal, but its application is limited by the intensive energy consumption of its crystallization process. Here we propose a new strategy that employs an advanced solar crystallizer coupled with a salt crystallization inhibitor to eliminate highly concentrated waste brine. The rationally designed solar crystallizer exhibited a high water evaporation rate of 2.42 kg m−2 h−1 under one sun illumination when treating real concentrated seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine (21.6 wt%). The solar crystallizer array showed an even higher water evaporation rate of 48.0 kg m−2 per day in the outdoor field test, suggesting a great potential for practical application. The solar crystallizer design and the salt crystallization inhibition strategy proposed and confirmed in this work provide a low-cost and sustainable solution for industrial brine disposal with ZLD.

Economics and Energy Consumption of Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis Desalination: Innovations and Impacts of Feedwater Quality

“…In small- to medium-capacity BWRO systems, ZLD is feasible, but requires a means of salt disposal, which causes increased costs for both the additional energy for treatment and the solid waste disposal [ 86 , 87 , 88 ]. A number of methods have been proposed to lower the energy consumption and costs for ZLD, by combining various membrane and thermal processes [ 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 ]. All of the methods, either used or designed to date, cause a major increase in power consumption, resulting in higher water production costs [ 95 ].…”

Conversion and storage of solar energy for cooling

“…As a proof-of concept, a 3D cupshaped solar solute regenerator (3D SR) is designed for solute regeneration. 15 The 3D SR consists of a photothermal cup made of a spectrally selective absorber (SSA). The outer surface of the 3D SR is wrapped by a very thin polyethylene (PE) film to prevent it from directly contacting with the saturated salt solution.…”

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

“…Table 2 shows the main composition of physicochemical parameters present in ROC from desalination plants (seawater or brackish). Some authors have shown the structural characteristics of brine components using FTIR, SEM, and TEM [42][43][44]. Furthermore, Sanmartino et al [45] identified the phases present in the used RO brine by semi-quantitative analysis of the characteristic peaks obtained for X-ray diffraction, such as NaCl (67%), MgCl 2 •6H 2 O (15%), CaSO 4 (10%), Mg 3 (SO 4 ) 2 (OH) 2 (3%), Na 2 SO 4 (3%), and CaMg(CO 3 ) 2 (2%).…”