• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.17-32
• /
• 2018

The need for seawater desalination is increasing in terms of securing various water resources, but few studies are available as for the environmental impact of hypersaline concentrated water (brine) discharged from desalination plants. Domestic studies are concentrated mainly on toxicity evaluation that phytoplankton, zooplankton larvae and green algae (Ulva pertusa) are negatively affected by concentrated water. The mortality of Paralichthys olivaceus showed a linear relationship with increasing salinity, and Oryzias latipes died 100% at concentrations above 60 psu. Foreign studies included monitoring cases as well as toxicity evaluations. The number of species decreased around the area where the concentrated water discharged. The hypersaline concentrated water affects the pelagic and benthic organisms. However, the fishes escaped when exposed to salinity, and the pelagic and benthic organisms resistant to salinity survived the hypersaline environment. The salinity limit and distance from the outlet was presented as the regulatory standard for bine discharge. There were differences in regulatory standards among country and seawater desalination plants, and these regulatory standards have been strengthened recently. In particular, California Water Boards were revised to ensure that the maximum daily salinity concentration does not exceed 2 psu above the ambient salinity level within 100 m of the outlet.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.38 no.5
• /
• pp.407-412
• /
• 2014

A new apparatus for seawater desalination, based on the principle of gas hydrates, is suggested. The equipment continuously produces and pelletizes gas hydrates by a squeezing operation in a dual cylinder unit, which is able to extract pure hydrate pellets from the seawater-containing reactor. Desalination efficiency for each dissolved ion from seawater samples was tested by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and ion chromatography (IC) analysis. This study demonstrates that the suggested method and the stated apparatus may solve the difficulty of separating hydrate crystals from concentrated brine solutions, and therefore may be applied to improve the efficiency of existing desalination processes.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
• /
• v.33 no.1-2
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 1998

In the western Weddell Sea, winter mixed layer is characterized by near-freezing temperature and higher salinity due to brine injection through sea-ice formation. This layer becomes Winter Water being capped by warmer and less saline Antarctic Surface Water during the sea-ice melt-ing season. In this study, Winter Water was preliminarily identified by the oxygen isotopic com-positions. The ${\delta}^{18}$O values of Winter Water show the progressively increasing trend from south to north in the study area. It presumably reflects the enhanced mixing with Antarctic Surface Water due to the extent of influence by low S'"0 value of sea-ice/glacier meltwater. Correlations between salinity and 6'"0 values of seawater can be used to more generally characterize Winter Water with a view to identification. However, the prediction on the degree of mixing from these relationships needs more detailed isotope data, although this study allows the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater as a tracer to identify the water mass.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.573-579
• /
• 2011

As rapid advances in technologies continue, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination systems are now more energy-efficient than conventional thermal processes. Some SWRO desalination plants can achieve the specific energy consumption (SEC) below 2 kWh/$m^3$. Along with the development of new membranes and high-performance pumps, energy recovery devices (ERD), which recover the hydraulic energy of brine, have been developed to enhance energy efficiency. In this work, we reviewed general aspects of ERD technologies and their market trends. The advantages and disadvantages of various EDR technologies were compared to explore the future directions of ERD development.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.3-10
• /
• 2016

A lot of researches have been carried out on the recovery of resources from the seawater all over the world. The boron concentration in seawater is low about at 4.5ppm, but considering the volume of seawater, the total weight of dissolved boron amounts to about 5.4 trillion tons. The boron is an essential resource in about 300 kinds of industries. Korea has imported all of the boron and spent more than 700 billion won each year. In this article, we introduce the domestic and international research trends and technologies for removing or recovering the boron from wastewater and seawater. Most of the researches have been conducted to remove the boron from the desalination process, and to recover the boron mainly from wastewater and brine. The technique for the recovery of the dissolved boron includes the ion exchange, which is the most representative, the adsorption membrane filtration (AMF), solvent extraction, and so on.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.115-125
• /
• 2020

This study was aimed to examine inorganic fouling and fouling reduction method in direct contact membrane distillation(DCMD) process. Synthetic seawater of NaCl solution with CaCO₃ and CaSO₄ was used for this purpose. It was found in this study that both CaCO₃ and CaSO₄ precipitates formed at the membrane surface. More fouling was observed with CaSO₄(anhydrite) and CaSO₄·0.5H₂O(bassanite) than CaSO₄·2H₂O(gypsum). CaCO₃ and gypsum were detected at the membrane surface when concentrates of SWRO(seawater reverse osmosis) were treated by the DCMD process, while gypsum was found with MED(multi effect distillation) concentrates. Air backwash(inside to out) was found more effective in fouling reduction than air scouring.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.216-222
• /
• 2021

This is an experiment to complement new ways of using concentrated water discharged from the seawater desalination plant. In this study, metakaolin, which has excellent chloride ion immobilization effect, was used as the main binder, and 10% and 20% of calcium oxide were substituted with the activator. In addition, tap-water(TW) and reverse osmosis brine water(RW) were used as mixed water. As a result of the experiment, the mixture using RW showed higher compressive strength than TW. It also showed low water absorption and high density. In the mixture using RW as mixed water, a hydration reaction substance called Friedel's salt could be observed. Considering the corrosion problem of steel, RW is considered to be applicable to products such as non-reinforced concrete, brick, and curb stone. Through this study, it is thought that it is meaningful to propose a new application method other than the ocean release of RW.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.369-380
• /
• 2012

A one-dimensional numerical model based on the energy and mass equations have been developed to predict the trans membrane water vapor flux and thermal efficiency under various operating conditions in Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) process. The model validation have been carried out by experimental data from literature and showed good agreement. The effect of operating parameters such as brine inlet temperature and velocity, and distillate inlet temperature and velocity to increase water vapor flux and thermal efficiency were predicted by the steady-state model. The results showed that the inlet temperature and velocity in brine side are dominant factors to control the water vapor flux and thermal efficiency because the effect of inlet temperature and velocity in brine side showed the higher water vapor flux and thermal efficiency than that of inlet temperature and velocity in distillate side. The water vapor flux was increased 3.4 times in the range of 21.22 $kg/m^2h$ to 71.26 $kg/m^2h$ and the thermal efficiency was increased 37.5% in that of 0.556 to 0.765 with increasing brine inlet temperature from $60^{\circ}C$ to $95^{\circ}C$. Meanwhile, the water vapor flux was increased 30% in that of 27.91 $kg/m^2h$ to 36.33 $kg/m^2h$ and thermal efficiency increased 7.5% in that of 0.6 to 0.646 as the brine inlet velocity was increased from 60 m/h to 300 m/h.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.22-28
• /
• 2023

The global demand for raw lithium materials is rapidly increasing, accompanied by the demand for lithiumion batteries for next-generation mobility. The batch-type method, which selectively separates and concentrates lithium from seawater rich in reserves, could be an alternative to mining, which is limited owing to low extraction rates. Therefore, research on selectively separating and concentrating lithium using an electrodialysis technique, which is reported to have a recovery rate 100 times faster than the conventional methods, is actively being conducted. In this study, a lithium ion selective membrane is prepared using lithium lanthanum titanate, an oxide-based solid electrolyte material, to extract lithium from seawater, and a large-area membrane manufacturing process is conducted to extract a large amount of lithium per unit time. Through the developed manufacturing process, a large-area membrane with a diameter of approximately 20 mm and relative density of 96% or more is manufactured. The lithium extraction behavior from seawater is predicted by measuring the ionic conductivity of the membrane through electrochemical analysis.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.61-65
• /
• 2013

Water is an integral part of energy production because it is used directly in many power generation systems such as hydroelectric power plants and thermoelectric power plants. Water is also used extensively in energy-resource extraction, oil, natural gas, and alternative fuels refining and processing. Recently, osmotic power systems using seawater and freshwater has been also investigated to produce electricity in a sustainable way. This study focused on the use of RO and PRO for the mutual conversion of water and energy. This system allows the production of water from seawater if there is not enough water. It can also generate electricity from salinity gradient of brine water and fresh water if there is not enough energy. To demonstrate the feasibility of this technology, a set of laboratory-scale experiments were carried out using a specially-designed RO/PRO system. The efficiency of energy conversion was theoretically estimated based on the results from the experiments. The results indicated that water and energy could be easily converted using a single device. Nevertheless, a lack of optimum membrane for this purpose was identified as a major barrier for practical application.