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This research developed a three-step demineralization process for removing scale-forming compounds from brine solutions produced during nanofiltration (NF) of potable water. The process is designed to remove compounds that would produce scale and membrane fouling during further treatment via NF or reverse osmosis (RO). Jar tests were performed to determine the most suitable dosages and mixing times for each reagent. The first step in the demineralization process employs ferric chloride for removing phosphonate scale inhibitors via co-precipitation with ferric hydroxide. The second step of the process increases the solution pH value to promote carbonate mineral precipitation. The third step involves barium sulfate precipitation promoted by barite seed crystals. Saturation indices for precipitation of mineral solids were simulated using the PHREEQC thermodynamic modeling program. Water recovery from the treated brines was modeled using the ROSA package for simulating permeate and concentrate compositions for NF processes. The three-step demineralization process allowed the recovery rate for the brine solution to be as high as the initial feed water, and achieved a total water recovery of > 97%.

This work encompasses the study of a novel thermal driven desalination system to accomplish full separation of water and solute. This process advantageous over other process because it involves zero recirculation and zero liquid discharge, thus having minimum environmental impact. Since this system provides full separation, salts and other valuable products can be obtained in addition to pure water. This system can operate at high energy efficiencies using medium temperature heat source like industrial reject or solar cells. This plant consists of two technologies, the full separation and multi effect distillation which when integrated together 8ive us water and salt separately. Three different configuration of the FS-MED system have been presented, naming concurrent feed, variable feed, and counter current feed. They vary depending on their flow and feed distribution. Numerical procedure has been developed to solve the energy and mass balance equation for steady state condition has been presented.

The cement industry contributes around 5-7% of man-made CO2 emissions globally because of the Portland Cement (PC) production. Therefore, innovative reactive magnesia cement, with significant sustainable and technical advantages, has been proposed by blending reactive MgO and hydraulic binders in various proportions. MgO is currently produced from the calcination of magnesite (MgCO3), emitting more CO2 than the production of PC, or from seawater/brine which is also extremely energy intensive. Hence this research aims to investigate an innovative method to produce MgO from reject brine, a waste Mg source, through carbon sequestration, by its reaction with CO2, to provide a comparable low carbon manufacturing process due to the recycling of CO2. The produced deposits are then calcined to oxides with potential usage in construction industry. The entire system is a closed loop to achieve both environmental optimisation and good productivity. This research focuses on the chemical manufacturing process, integrated with material science knowledge and advancements, instead of concentrating purely on chemistry evaluations. Six series of studies were conducted, utilising MgCl2, CaCl2, MgCl2-CaCl2, MgCl2-CaCl2-NaCl, and MgCl2-CaCl2-NaCl-KCl to react with CO2 under alkaline conditions. The precipitates include hydrated magnesium carbonates, calcium carbonates and magnesian calcite. Generated carbonates were then calcined in a furnace to obtain MgO, CaO or dolime (CaO•MgO). All six series of carbonation processes were carried out under a controlled pH level, to study the constant pH’s effect on the process and resulting precipitates. Other controllable factors include pH, temperature, initial concentration, stirring speed, and CO2 flux rate. In conclusion, the optimum parameters for the production of the carbonated precipitates are: 0.25MgCl2 + 0.05CaCl2 + 2.35NaCl + 0.05KCl, 700rpm stirring speed, 25oC room temperature, pH=10.5, and 500cm3/min CO2 infusion rate. Reaction time is within a day. These parameters are chosen based on the sequestration level, particle performance morphology and the operational convenience. The optimum calcination parameters are at 800oC heating temperature with a 4h retention time.

The effect of brine ionic composition on oil recovery was studied for a limestone reservoir rock at a high temperature. Contact angle, imbibition, core flood and ion analysis were used to find the brines that improve oil recovery and the associated mechanisms. Contact angle experiments showed that modified seawater containing Mg[superscript 2+] and SO4[superscript 2-] and diluted seawater change aged oil-wet calcite plates to more water-wet conditions. Seawater with Ca[superscript 2+], but without Mg[superscript 2+] or SO₄[superscript 2-] was unsuccessful in changing calcite wettability. Modified seawater containing Mg[superscript 2+] and SO₄[superscript 2-], and diluted seawater spontaneously imbibe into the originally oil-wet limestone cores. Modified seawater containing extra SO₄[superscript 2-] and diluted seawater improve oil recovery from 40% OOIP (for formation brine waterflood) to about 80% OOIP in both secondary and tertiary modes. The residual oil saturation to modified brine injection is approximately 20%. Multi ion exchange and mineral dissolution are responsible for desorption of organic acid groups which lead to more water-wet conditions. Further research is needed for scale-up of these mechanisms from cores to reservoirs. / text

Spontaneous imbibition of water into Fontainebleau Sandstone matrix because of capillary gradient is an important mechanism for oil recovery from Fontainebleau Sandstone reservoirs. Spontaneous imbibition characteristics of Fontainebleau Sandstone core were determined by measuring the Wettability Index of four Fontainebleau Sandstone core samples under laboratory conditions. This was done by utilizing a combination of a Benchtop Relative Permeameter Flooding System and Amott Cups. The specimen had a diameter of 38mm and a height of 47mm. Permeability and porosity of the cores varied from 12 to 14 mD and 10 to 14% respectively. The fluids and chemicals used were kerosene, synthetic brine and Sodium dodecyl sulphate. Amott’s method was used to measure the wettability index. This method consists of four steps: (1) brine flooding, (2) spontaneous imbibition of brine, (3) kerosene flooding, (4) spontaneous imbibition of kerosene. One core was saturated with kerosene and then flooded with brine, followed by spontaneous imbibition of brine. Similarly, another core was saturated with brine and then flooded with kerosene, followed by spontaneous imbibition of kerosene. Similar procedures were used for other two cores except the addition of surfactant to the synthetic brine. All cores were then cleaned and re-saturated for spontaneous imbibition of kerosene and brine. All Experiments were performed under laboratory temperature conditions. Oil and water wettability values were obtained along with secondary and tertiary oil recoveries. These values were used to calculate the wettability index of Fontainebleau sandstone cores. Spontaneous imbibition characteristics of the cores obtained from the experimental data indicate that Fontainebleau Sandstone formation is a potential candidate for Secondary and Tertiary oil recovery by water injection and spontaneous imbibition.

Sulfate is one of the most problematic ions present in reject brine in desalination systems due to its high potential of scale formation and membrane fouling; making it an obstacle in the application of zero liquid discharge. The ultra-high lime with aluminum process (UHLA) has shown to effectively remove sulfate. This research involves the study of sulfate removal from the nano-filtration unit in the zero liquid discharge system for inland desalination via a two-stage process using a calcium source to remove sulfate in the first stage and implementing the UHLA process in the second stage. The kinetics, equilibrium characteristics, and effects of different parameters on sulfate removal were studied. Kinetics of sulfate removal was studied on both stages of the process. The observation of fast kinetics in both stages indicated that removal kinetics is not a limitation for the application of the process. Equilibrium characteristics of the UHLA process were performed which revealed efficient sulfate removal at practical ranges of lime and aluminum doses. The effect of pH on sulfate removal in the process was studied. Results showed that sulfate removal in Stage 1 was independent of the pH of the solution while effective sulfate removal in Stage 2 was found to be above a pH of 11. The effect of initial sulfate concentrations on sulfate removal in Stage 1 was investigated and sulfate removal was mainly controlled by calcium sulfate solubility. The effect of initial chloride concentrations on sulfate removal in Stage 2 was evaluated and the results indicated that chloride has negligible effect on the removal of sulfate. Experiments concerning the effect of the recycle of calcium sulfate solids in Stage 1 showed an increase of the reaction rate. In contrast, the recycle of Stage 2 dry solids into Stage 2 revealed no effect on sulfate removal. An equilibrium model was developed to explain the equilibrium characteristics of Stage 2. It was found that a valid explanation for the chemistry of sulfate removal in Stage 2 was the formation of a solid solution consisting of ettringite and monosulfate. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of these solids.

In order to understand and predict the geochemical conditions in Antarctic meltwater ponds during winter, the geochemical extremes in Bratina Island meltwater ponds over a seasonal cycle were determined and compositional variation related to key physical, chemical and biological processes. A high resolution record of vertical temperature gradients in Skua Pond during freezing, winter and thaw, highlighted a significant seasonal temperature variation (10.3˚C to -41.8˚C) driven by air temperatures and the release of latent heat of fusion. A conceptual model of freeze-thaw involved heterogeneous melting, and explained how the presence of an ice plug near the base of the pond supports the strong chemical stratification observed, which can persist throughout summer. The geochemistry of Bratina Island meltwater ponds was shown to be catchment specific with correlation between geochemical parameters within ponds, but not between ponds. Basal brines that develop during freezing were nearer in composition to the brines preserved during summer, than to those present immediately post-melting. This is due to mineral precipitation during winter removing selected dissolved ions. Therefore winter brine predictions should be based on mid-late summer conditions, and allow for existing geochemical stratification. Nutrient concentrations were vertically stratified, by the same physical processes controlling major ion concentrations. However, the relatively low nutrient concentrations meant that biological processes exerted little influence over winter brine geochemistry. FREZCHEM62 modeled winter brine compositions were consistent with those of brines present during progressive freezing. Predicted mineral precipitation was also consistent with the presence of halite (NaCl), mirabilite (Na₂SO₄.10H₂O), thenardite (Na₂SO₄), magnesite (MgCO₃), gypsum (CaSO₄), sodium carbonate (NaCO₃) and calcite (CaCO₃) in pond sediments. FREZCHEM62 can therefore be used with confidence to predict winter conditions, as long as a reliable initial bulk pond water composition is calculated, and limitations, such as the over-prediction of carbonate mineral formation, are borne in mind.

Delineating the extent of brine contamination in shallow groundwater systems using piezometers is costly and does not provide adequate data resolution. Direct-push (D-P) electrical conductivity (EC) profiling enables rapid in situ measurements of bulk soil EC (ECa) at the cm scale. Previous studies using D-P EC profiling to detect contaminant plumes have solely relied on ECa measurements, and where attempts were made to isolate pore-water salinity variations from changes in ECa they were accomplished using simple linear methods. In this study D-P EC profiling was used to define groundwater salinity distributions using an established soil conductance model and estimate the timing of groundwater contamination at a long-term potash mine in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada. The site was dominated by fine-grained postglacial and glacial sediments with known Na-K-Cl brine impacts resulting from mining activities. Coreholes (n=22) were drilled to 7.6-12.2 m below ground (mbg) to obtain continuous cores for detailed geologic descriptions and measurements of index parameters (n=522) below the water table. Pore-water EC (ECw) and Cl- results from squeezed core samples (n=142) at 12 locations were compared to ECa measurements collected using a D-P probe adjacent to each corehole. Measured ECw and pore-water Cl- results ranged from 1.94-55.1 mS/cm and 87-20,700 mg/L, respectively. In situ D-P EC values from logs collected adjacent to all 22 coreholes ranged from 2-8 mS/cm within the oxidized zone (5-6 mbg) and decreased to background values of 0.3-2 mS/cm within the underlying unoxidized zone. Significant linear ECa–ECw regressions established for four lithological groups (r2=0.78-0.95) were used with porosity and dry density measurements to generate high-resolution depth profiles of ECw from D-P EC measurements. A significant linear ECw–Cl regression (r2=0.92) further enabled the generation of pore-water Cldepth profiles from ECw predictions. Observed 1D vertical profiles of Cl-, ECw, and ECa at three locations were modeled. Results suggested solute transport can be described as diffusion-dominated below depths of 3-5 mbg and that groundwater contamination began shortly after the onset of mining. Based on the results attained, this method can generate high-resolution depth profiles of pore-water salinity that can be used to define the lateral and vertical extent of brine contamination, dominant solute transport mechanisms, and timing of groundwater contamination.

One contemporary issue experienced worldwide is the climate change due to the combustion of fossil fuels. Microbial Electrochemical Systems pose as an alternative for energy generation. In this technology, microorganisms are primarily responsible for electricity production. To improve the performance it is reasonable to think that bacteria from diverse environments, such as the brine pools of the Red Sea, can be utilized in these systems. Samples from three brine pools: Atlantis II, Valdivia, and Kebrit Deeps, were analyzed using Microbial Electrochemical Cells, with a poised potential at +0.2 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and acetate as electron donor, to evaluate the exoelectrogenic activity by the present microorganisms. Only samples from Valdivia Deep were able to produce a noticeable current of 6 A/m2. This result, along with acetate consumption and changes on the redox activity measured with cyclic voltammetry, provides arguments to con rm the presence of exoelectrogenic bacteria in this environment. Further characterization using microscopy and molecular biology techniques is required, to obtain the most amount of information about these microorganisms and their potential use in bioelectrochemical technologies.