Modeling dispersion of brine waste discharges from a coastal desalination plant

Anton Purnama*, H. H. Al-Barwani, M. Al-Lawatia

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

59 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Desalination of seawater leaves brine waste containing a high salt concentration to be disposed of into the environment. For coastal desalination plants, the most practical and least expensive brine disposal operation is to discharge it into the sea. Modeling studies on the effect of coastal water depth variations upon mixing and spreading of brine waste continuously being discharged into the sea are presented. Solutions are illustrated graphically, showing that the brine plumes are spreading downstream and heading towards the beach. For Oman in particular, the increase in salinity in coastal water will intensify the critical problems of seawater intrusion into coastal groundwater aquifers. However, this potential impact of brine disposal operations on coastal and marine environment can be alleviated by building longer sea outfalls.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)41-47
Number of pages7
JournalDesalination
Volume155
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 30 2003

Keywords

  • Brine disposal
  • Dispersion model
  • Oman
  • Sea outfall
  • Sloping beach

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering
  • General Materials Science
  • Water Science and Technology
  • Mechanical Engineering

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