Concentrate management represents the most pressing challenge of all desalination technologies with regard to disposal in a non-ocean environment, and is a key barrier to inland deployment. The Centre seeks to remove this barrier to desalination for inland Australia through effective reuse or disposal. The Centre’s concentrate management projects include:
- Management of brine disposal into inland ecosystems, led by A/Prof. Ray Froend, Edith Cowan University
- Transverse vibrational motion enhanced submerged hollow fibre membrane crystallizer, led by Prof. Vicki Chen, The University of New South Wales
Management of brine disposal into inland ecosystems
| Primary Investigator: | A/Prof. Ray Froend, Edith Cowan University |
| Research Participants: | Edith Cowan University, The University of Western Australia |
| Funded by: | National Centre of Excellence in Desalination, Water Corporation |
| Total project value: | $1,405,524 |
Inland disposal and/or use of brine ‘waste’ from desalination plants and groundwater pumping is a significant management issue in Australia and globally. The remote location of inland desalination or dewatering plants often limits the options for beneficial use of brine. Consequently, brine disposal into naturally saline or secondary salinised waterways is frequently considered the only economically viable means of disposal. This multi-staged project aims to evaluate brine discharge using an ecosystem services perspective, and develop and test protocols and guidelines for the management of brine in inland aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Transverse vibrational motion enhanced submerged hollow fibre membrane crystallizer
| Primary Investigator: | Prof. Vicki Chen, The University of New South Wales |
| Research Participants: | The University of New South Wales, Singapore Membrane Technology Centre |
| Funded by: | National Centre of Excellence in Desalination |
| Total project value: | $596,571 |
Membrane distillation crystallisers (MDC) provide a promising alternative to recover high quality water as well as valuable precipitates from brackish to hypersaline waters. However the technical challenges to large scale implementation include controlling heat mass and heat transfer to mitigate concentration polarisation and fouling and reduction of energy usage. Recently, we have shown that low frequency, small displacement, transverse vibrational motion is highly effective in controlling cake formation in membrane bioreactors by providing shear directly to the membrane surface. In this project, a novel design combining a submerged hollow membrane distillation configuration with transverse mechanical shear will be studied to control temperature polarisation as well as fouling and crystal detachment on the membrane surface. The potential for a single vessel reactor/crystalliser will be explored as well as the potential to better utilise renewable energy sources.
