the current, More than 20,000 desalination plants worldwide, and this number is expected to increase in the coming years. Climate change, prolonged droughts and increasing population demands are putting tremendous pressure on the availability of drinking water. Desalination, especially reverse osmosis, effectively addresses these challenges. As desalination gains traction as a viable alternative, focus has shifted to enhancing the process.
First, from an energy consumption perspective, progress is being made towards more efficient desalination technologies and the integration of renewable energy sources. Next, “brine treatment,” which processes the concentrated salt left after desalination, is attracting attention. How can we turn this waste into valuable resources?
This article covers the following topics:
What exactly is salt water?
This article will focus on the following brine: seawater desalination, which is essentially water with a high salt concentration. However, it is also found in olive jars, seafood cooking water, and salt pans where seawater evaporates to produce sea salt.
Salt water is also rich in minerals, some of which have significant value and can be recovered for reuse in various industries, paving the way for sustainable ‘mining’. But what minerals do you get from salt water, and what is the ideal process to extract them? Let’s take a closer look at this.
What kind of resources can be extracted from salt water?
In line with circular economy principles, recent research has focused on the extraction of raw materials from brine. For example, research by MIT highlights the possibility of producing caustic soda from salt water.
Salt water contains many elements, including minerals such as: Calcium, lithium, magnesium, boronsimilarly rare and valuable metals rubidium, vanadium, gallium, molybdenum, etc. Another research tool is Compounds such as beta carotene By culturing microalgae in salt water solution.
Minerals: R&D projects moving from the laboratory to reality
Projects aimed at making better use of salt water have gone beyond theoretical exercises and been tested under real-world conditions. One of the most promising examples is her MINERALS project “Selective extraction of high-value elements from sea salt water”, a joint research between ACCIONA and the LEITAT Technology Center.
MINERALS applies advanced technology to recover critical raw materials from salt water. Not only is it highly useful, but it is also highly rare.. ACCIONA’s pilot project will employ technologies such as liquid membranes, nanofiber adsorbents incorporating selective nanoparticles, and gravity precipitation processes.
The project aims for efficiencies ranging from 90% for monovalent ions such as lithium, rubidium, and boron to 65% for calcium. Magnesium and potassium efficiencies are targeted at 80% and 70%, respectively.
It is expected that a pilot plant will be installed at a reverse osmosis desalination facility to demonstrate the feasibility of this technological approach. If scaled up, this sustainable process could provide new sources of income for desalination plants and strengthen their competitiveness in providing drinking water for all.
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