Environmental Impacts of Thermal and Brine Dispersion Using Hydrodynamic Modelling for Yanbu Desalination Plant, on the Eastern Coast of the Red Sea

Abstract

For any coastal desalination plant, the most effective and practical way to dispose of their brine is to thermally discharge it into the sea via outfalls at some distance from the coast. This study focused on the environmental impacts associated with brine and thermal discharge arising from seawater desalination plants at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, on the southeastern coast of the Red Sea. The impacts associated with recirculation patterns and dispersions were investigated with the calibrated three-dimensional numerical model Delft3d. The environmental impact assessment and the process of identification and characterisation could help improve strategies for better planning and management of the technological solutions related to desalination. Analysis of the model simulations for the different seasons also suggested that around the outfall location, the magnitude of the flow was always high when considered together with the presence of seasonal eddy circulations. Although the tidal flow is lower, the ambient current and wind cause the far-field discharge to spread along the north–south direction during the winter and summer. The thermal and brine dispersion and environmental compliance were assessed in terms of the extent of dispersion. The well-mixed environment caused more rapid dispersion. From the impact level assessment perspective, the study indicated rapid dilution and dispersion of the wastewater at the study region. The present offshore outfall and further offshore locations were far enough to ensure quick dispersion.

Experimental study on progressive freeze-concentration based desalination employing a rectangular channel crystallizer

“…34 It is frequently released back into the ocean, seriously impacting marine ecology. 35 Hydraulic fracturing (a process to recover abundant supplies of oil and natural gas in shale) produces hypersaline brine (12-25 wt% TDS) along with hydrocarbons. 36 The disposal of brine in the sea, on land, and by deep well injection raises serious environmental problems.…”

The effect of intake channel length on water temperature at the intake point of the power plant at Muara Karang power plant

“…The discharge of hot water from cooling canals into seawater bodies can potentially disrupt the sustainability of coastal and marine ecosystems. Meanwhile, detrimental effects were observed when an increase in the ambient sea temperature exceeded the threshold for the survival of marine biota (Rosen et al, 2015;Aljohani et al, 2022). Dallas (2009) stated that all organisms had a certain temperature range for optimal growth, reproduction, and fitness, often called the optimum thermal regime.…”

“…Modeling technology has been widely used as an effective approach to optimizing designs according to the conditions of an area (Aljohani et al, 2022). In the last few years, several numerical models, particularly those using Delft3D-FLOW, have been developed to investigate thermal pollution caused by power plant discharges (Laguna-Zarate et al, 2021).…”

“…In the last few years, several numerical models, particularly those using Delft3D-FLOW, have been developed to investigate thermal pollution caused by power plant discharges (Laguna-Zarate et al, 2021). Typical examples include the application of numerical modeling with Delft3D-FLOW to simulate thermal plumes originating from the Veracruz Power Plant in the Gulf of Mexico (Durán-Colmenares et al, 2016), and the Yanbu-Saudi Arabia Power Plant (Aljohani et al, 2022). Numerical modeling of water thermal dispersion using MIKE has been carried out in different locations, including the Paiton Power Plant (Fudlailah et al, 2015;Fikri et al, 2020), Lekki Coast-Nigeria (Panigrahi & Tripathy, 2011), Bandar Abbas Power Plant-Iran (Abbaspour et al, 2006), and PT Kilang Pertamina International Kasim process plant in Sele Strait, West Papua (Yesaya et al, 2023).…”