Hyper-saline brine discharges into tidal coastal waters
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Dundee
Department Name: Civil Engineering
Abstract
The project will investigate the processes affecting the dilution of dense, concentrated brine when it is discharged from an industrial outfall diffuser into coastal waters. Concentrated brine is produced as a waste product from solution mining and desalination plants and it is harmful to marine fauna and flora when it is discharged into coastal waters. This project will model the ways in which the concentration of brine is diluted by mixing with the coastal waters and it will quantify the mixing taking place as the brine spreads away from the outfall diffuser under the action of currents and background turbulence. The problem will be modelled by means of laboratory experiments, mathematical analyses and computer simulations so that the important mixing processes can be understood, parameterised and quantified. Archived field monitoring measurements taken on a regular basis from the waters around an existing brine discharge diffuser will also be analysed and compared with the modelling results and predictions. By combining these modelling and field approaches, the results of the project can be used to provide guidance to outfall designers and environmental monitoring agencies to enable them to predict brine dilution and contamination.
People |
ORCID iD |
Peter A Davies (Principal Investigator) |
Description | The work has led to an increased understanding of the mechanism(s) by which the inclined dense buoyant jets emitted from the diffuser sections of brine wastewater outfalls are diluted. The degree of dilution of the jets is found to depend strongly upon whether jets from adjacent diffuser ports merge before the jets reach the sea floor. The work has delineated conditions under which (i) there is no merging, (ii) merging occurs before the jets reach their maximum height in the water column or (iii) merging occurs after reaching the maximum height. These conditions have bene shown to depend upon the angle of discharge from the diffuser outlets, the separation of the diffuser ports and ratio of the moemntum flux to the buoyancy flux of the discharge. For conditions of merging, the work has demonstrated that the so-called leakage flows from individual jets can merge to form a strong "curtain-like" flow that draws brine directly from the jets |
Exploitation Route | More anlaysis is required before the findings can be taken forward |
Sectors | Environment |
Description | External Consultative Group |
Organisation | Environment Agency |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Information on the progress of the project (and the results generated within the project) given to the partner |
Collaborator Contribution | Membership of the project's External Consulatative Group |
Impact | Conference papers presented to Solution Mining Institute, Croucher Foundation and 3rd International Symposium on Shallow Flows |
Start Year | 2008 |
Description | External Consultative Group |
Organisation | Jacobs Engineering Group |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Provision of details of progress of the grant and the results generated by the grant |
Collaborator Contribution | Provision of field monitoring data and service on the project's External Consultative Committee |
Impact | Conference presentations to Solution Mining Institute, Croucher Foundation and 3rd International Symposium on Shallow Flows |
Start Year | 2008 |
Description | Presentation to Solution Mining Research Institute (SMRI) Technical Conference (York, UK) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Fall Technical Conference of the SMRI was attended almost exclusively by engineers and policy makers in the international solution mining industry. The presentation to this audience achieved the objectives of (i) informing this practitioner audience of research work being undertaken to model the brine dilution phenomena with which the practitioners were concerned as engineers, (ii) generating interest within the practitioner audience for closer collaboration with researchers and (iii) stimulating the flow of information and technical data from practitioners. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |