Production of ultra-high-density brines using transiently-operated desalination systems
Systems and methods related to desalination systems are described herein. According to some embodiments, the desalination systems are transiently operated and/or configured to facilitate transient operation. In some embodiments, a liquid stream comprising water and at least one dissolved salt is circulated through a fluidic circuit comprising a desalination system. In some embodiments, a portion of the desalination system (e.g., a humidifier) is configured to remove at least a portion of the water from the liquid stream to produce a concentrated brine stream enriched in the dissolved salt. In certain cases, the concentrated brine stream is recirculated through the fluidic circuit until the concentrated brine stream reaches a relatively high density (e.g., at least about 10 pounds per gallon) and/or a relatively high salinity (e.g., a total dissolved salt concentration of at least about 25 wt %). In certain embodiments, additional salt is added to the concentrated brine stream to produce an ultra-high-density brine stream (e.g., a brine stream having a density of at least about 11.7 pounds per gallon). Some aspects relate to a system that is configured to promote energy efficiency by recovering heat from the recirculated concentrated brine stream upon discharge from the fluidic circuit.
1. A method for producing a concentrated brine stream, comprising:
supplying a liquid stream comprising water and a dissolved salt at an initial concentration to a fluidic circuit comprising a humidifier, wherein the humidifier removes at least a portion of the water from the liquid stream to produce a concentrated brine stream comprising water and the dissolved salt at a second concentration higher than the initial concentration of the liquid stream;
recirculating the concentrated brine stream through the fluidic circuit to remove at least a portion of the water from the concentrated brine stream, forming a recirculated concentrated brine stream comprising water and the dissolved salt at a third concentration higher than the second concentration of the concentrated brine stream;
discharging the recirculated concentrated brine stream from the fluidic circuit when the recirculated concentrated brine stream reaches a density of at least about 10 pounds per gallon; and
adding additional salt to the recirculated concentrated brine stream until the recirculated concentrated brine stream reaches a density of at least about 11.7 pounds per gallon.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the additional salt and the salt at the initial concentration in the liquid stream are different.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the salt at the initial concentration in the liquid stream comprises NaCl.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the additional salt comprises NaBr, CaBr 2 , MgBr 2 , KBr, NaNO 3 , Ca(NO 3 ) 2 , and/or Mg(NO 3 ) 2 .
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the recirculated concentrated brine stream has a salinity of at least about 25% upon discharge from the fluidic circuit.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the humidifier is a bubble column humidifier.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the humidifier is a packed bed humidifier.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the humidifier is fluidly connected to a dehumidifier, wherein the dehumidifier produces a stream comprising substantially pure water.
9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the dehumidifier is a bubble column condenser.
10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising treating the concentrated brine stream and/or the recirculated concentrated brine stream to remove an amount of a sulfate and/or a carbonate.
11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising pre-treating the liquid stream to remove at least a portion of at least one scale-forming ion from the liquid stream prior to supplying the liquid stream to the fluidic circuit.
12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one scale-forming ion comprises Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , Sr 2+ , and/or Ba 2+ .
13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one scale-forming ion comprises CO 3 2− , HCO 3 − , SO 4 2− , HSO 4 − , OH − , and/or a dissolved silica anion.
14. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising pre-treating the liquid stream to remove at least a portion of a suspended and/or emulsified immiscible phase from the liquid stream prior to supplying the liquid stream to the fluidic circuit.
15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the suspended and/or emulsified immiscible phase comprises oil and/or grease.
16. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising pre-treating the liquid stream to remove at least a portion of suspended solids from the liquid stream prior to supplying the liquid stream to the fluidic circuit.
17. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising pre-treating the liquid stream to remove at least a portion of volatile organic material (VOM) from the liquid stream prior to supplying the liquid stream to the fluidic circuit.
18. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising pre-treating the liquid stream to adjust or maintain the pH of the liquid stream prior to supplying the liquid stream to the fluidic circuit.
19. The method according to claim 1 , wherein substantially no solid salt is produced in the fluidic circuit.
20. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising precipitating at least a portion of the dissolved salt from the concentrated brine stream and/or the recirculated concentrated brine stream.
21. The method according to claim 1 , wherein discharging the recirculated concentrated brine stream comprises flowing the recirculated concentrated brine stream through a first portion of a heat exchanger.