Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/459793
RESEARCH | 32 | Desalination & Water Reuse | February-March 2015 Researchers at Australia's national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), claims to have found a means to end the need for desalinated water in a crucial copper mining process. The scientists have discovered a bacterium that can tolerate high salinity and acidic conditions making it potentially useful in leaching copper minerals from ore – a process that currently requires high volumes of fresh water. Some 5% of the copper mined worldwide is mined using bacterial leaching from low-grade ore CSIRO environmental microbiologist, Suzy Rea, said fresh water was a major cost item in the mining industry. "In Chile, the biggest copper mine in the world is right next to the sea. So if we have found bacteria that can manage salty water, then they wouldn't have to build desalination plants or transport water in, and that would save a lot of money and be useful environmentally too," she said. The salt-and-acid-tolerant bacteria were found in drains on farmland near Merredin and Beacon in Western Australia. It has yet to be shown to be capable of bioleaching copper but Rea said the bacteria had already been shown to withstand high sulphate concentrations – a prerequisite for the leaching process which is based on oxidation of sulphides to sulphates. Australian research could end need for desalination in copper mining Iran has begun a pilot test of a solar- powered desalination plant in an arid region in the south of the country for future commercial use. "The pilot test of the solar-powered desalination unit has been kicked off in Hormozgan province," announced manager of engineering and technology at Iran's National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company (NWWEC), Hossein Ataeifar. He said the test results would be used to commercialize the systems. The pilot followed successful laboratory research according to NWWEC. "Desalinating seawater is the only way to deal with shortage of water in the province," said managing director of NWWEC in Hormozgan province, Hossein Khademi. He said there was a serious shortage of water in 14 cities of Hormozgan and insisted that the problem of access to fresh water resources within the province can be resolved by desalinating seawater. Iran starts up pilot for solar desalination Geosyntec picked to lead subsurface intake study West Basin Municipal Water District has selected a team led by consulting engineering firm, Geosyntec, to study options for subsurface seawater intake for the district's proposed 75,700-227,100 m³/d seawater reverse osmosis project. The study will also develop a guidance manual to be used by regulators, project proponents, and others interested in learning how a subsurface intake could be a viable option for a specific desalination site. Once completed, West Basin will test the manual by performing offshore and onshore field trials, including borings, offshore vibracorings and mapping of the ocean floor to prepare a scientific and defensible intake analysis. The study will mirror recent efforts of the Coastal Commission and Poseidon Resources on the proposed Huntington Beach desalination project including the appointment of an expert peer review panel. The project's cost, including a 10% contingency fee, will not exceed US$ 656,234 and the project will receive a US$ 150,000 grant from the US Bureau of Reclamation's Water Purification and Desalination Grant Programme. The district, said Geosyntec, was chosen from four proposals received in response to an August request for proposals. Masdar and GDF Suez in full-scale solar seawater desalination collaboration Abu Dhabi university, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, has unveiled recently its research collaboration with three leading energy and clean technology corporations in a research project supporting the development of a full-scale, completely solar-powered, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The institute's partners in the collaboration are: Masdar-Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, which works to develop and invest in renewable and clean energy in Abu Dhabi; GDF Suez subsidiary, Laborelec - a research centre and technical service provider specializing in power technology; and sustainable energy and water treatment and services provider, Suez Environnement subsidiary, Degrémont. President, of the Masdar Institute, Fred Moavenzadeh, said the partners, "hope to leverage our renewable energy experience and expertise to produce a cutting-edge SWRO plant powered exclusively by renewable energy." He added: "This research will help bring the UAE closer to its goal of producing a greater proportion of its electricity from renewable energy and will contribute significantly to the UAE's research and development expertise." The UAE derives most of its potable water from desalination driven by electricity from gas-fired power plants that produce nearly one third of the UAE's greenhouse gas emissions. The parties will work to optimize a design for solar energy-powered SWRO desalination before demonstrating its capacity to produce the required quality and quantity of fresh water on a large scale.