Sharif Journal of Civil Engineering

Sharif Journal of Civil Engineering

Investigation of Brine Dispersion of Desalination Plants in the Vicinity of Kish Island Port Using Field Measurements and Numerical Modeling

Document Type : Article

Authors
Omid Pourabdollah 1
Reza Ghiassi 2
1 Kish International Campus, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
2 School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
10.24200/j30.2025.66751.3425
Abstract
Desalination of seawater is one of the most effective methods, and in some cases, the only possible method for producing drinking water. The combined effect of desalination plants and port structures on the coastal environment can sometimes have specific environmental consequences. The dispersion from the desalination plants, especially the changes in salinity and temperature, has significant effects on coral reefs. In this paper, the effect of the commercial port of Kish Island with regard to the desalination plants was investigated using field measurements and numerical modeling. In 3 stages of field measurement, water quality parameters were measured from 24 different points near the northern coast of Kish Island. The speed and direction of the current were also measured to verify the accuracy of the numerical modeling. The current and dispersion of thermal and salinity pollution were modeled using the MIKE21 two-dimensional model. The computational domain was about 30 square kilometers in size and was discretized into four zones using four different element sizes. Comparison of the numerical modeling results with field measurements indicated acceptable accuracy. The results of the modeling of the salinity diffusion pattern indicate a significant spread in the zone surrounding the outfall of desalination plants and the Kish Island commercial port. Around the outfall, the average temperature and electrical conductivity (EC) increased by 16% and 14%, respectively. This is due to the effect of the west breakwater on current reduction, which resulted in increasing brine concentration. The ultimate point where the ambient temperature has increased by 3 degrees is 170 meters from the outfall. Therefore, considering the impact of temperature changes on coral reefs is critically important. Given the absence of measured data on water quality parameters, current, and velocity direction across various tides at this location, the findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the environmental status of the area.
Keywords
Numerical modeling
field study
coastal desalination plants
environmental impact
Subjects
 
1. Falconer, R. A., 1992. Flow and water quality modelling in coastal and inland water. Journal of Hydraulic Research, 30(4), pp.437-452 .   doi.org/10.1080/00221689209498893
2. Morton, A.J., Callister, I.K. and Wade, N.M., 1997. Environmental impacts of seawater distillation and reverse osmosis processes. Desalination, 108 (1-3), pp.1-10 .  doi:10.1016/S0011-9164(97)00002-7.
3. Talavera, J.P. and Ruiz, J.Q., 2001. Identification of the mixing processes in brine discharges carried out in Barranco del Toro Beach, south of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands). Desalination, 139 (1-3), pp.277-286.   doi:10.1016/S0011-9164(01)00320-4.
4. Danoun, R., 2007. Thesis. Desalination Plants: Potential impacts of brine discharge on marine life.
5. Fernández-Torquemada, Y., Gónzalez-Correa, J.M., Loya, A., Ferrero, L.M., Díaz-Valdés, M. and Sánchez-Lizaso, J.L., 2009. Dispersion of brine discharge from seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants. Desalination and Water Treatment, 5(1-3), pp.137-145 .  doi:10.5004/dwt.2009.576.
6. Kudale, M.D., 2010. Impact of port development on the coastline and the need for protection. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences, 39(4), pp. 597-604.
7.  Marjani, A. and Jamali, M., 2014. Role of exchange flow in salt water balance of Urmia Lake. Dynamics of  atmospheres and oceans, 65, pp.1-16  doi:10.1016/j.dynatmoce.2013.10.001.
8. Soltanpour, M. and Dibajnia, M., 2015. Field measurements and 3D numerical modeling of hydrodynamics in Chabahar Bay, Iran. International journal of maritime technology, 3, pp.49-60.  dor:20.1001.1.23456000.2015.3.0.1.3.
9. Abessi, O. and Roberts, P.J., 2016. Dense jet discharges in shallow water. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 142(1), p.04015033.  doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001057.
10. Sola, I., Zarzo, D. and Sánchez-Lizaso, J.L., 2019. Evaluating environmental requirements for the management of brine discharges in Spain. Desalination, 471, p.114132. doi: 10.1016/j.desal.2019.114132.
11. Anton, J., Tse, E. and Wells, C., 1971, September. Parameter identification criteria for salt brine dispersion from desalination plant ocean outfalls. In IEEE 1971 Conference on Engineering in the Ocean Environment (pp. 313-316). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/OCEANS.1971.1161030
12. Steedman, R.K. and Craig, P.D., 1983. Wind-driven circulation of Cockburn Sound. Marine and Freshwater Research, 34(1), pp.187-212.  doi:10.1071/MF9830187.
13. Payo, A., Cortés, J.M., Antoranz, A. and Molina, R., 2010. Effect of wind and waves on a nearshore brine discharge dilution in the east coast of Spain. Desalination and Water Treatment, 18(1-3), pp.71-79.  doi:10.5004/dwt.2010.1335.
14. Tayyebi, S. and Alishiri, M., 2014. The control of MSF desalination plants based on inverse model control by neural network. Desalination, 333(1), pp.92-100.  doi:10.1016/j.desal.2013.11.022.
15. Patel, Y.B., Nimbalkar, P.T., Nagendra, T. and Shukla, V.K., 2016. Numerical modeling of brine dispersion in shallow coastal waters. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 7(3).  doi:IJCIET_07_03_031.
16. Botelho, D.A., Singh, A., Mccall, E., Vos, C., Coletti, J., Bruce, L., Lyons, S., Gartner, A., Bailey, M., Atkinson, B. And Mccreath, A., 2016. Numerical simulations of brine dispersion associated with the discharge of the proposed stage 2 of the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant. In 2019 E-proceedings of the 38th IAHR World Congress (Panama City), Global Trends.  http://dx.doi.org/10.3850/38WC092019-1344
17. Wood, J.E., Silverman, J., Galanti, B. and Biton, E., 2020. Modelling the distributions of desalination brines from multiple sources along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Water Research, 173, p.115555.  doi:10.1016/j.watres.2020.115555.
18. Pereira, S.P., Rosman, P.C.C., Alvarez, C., Schetini, C.A.F., Souza, R.O. and Vieira, R.H.S.F., 2015. Modeling of coastal water contamination in Fortaleza (Northeastern Brazil). Water Science and Technology, 72(6), pp.928-936. doi:10.2166/wst.2015.292.
19. Pradhan, U., Panda, U.S., Naik, S., Mishra, P., Kumar, D.S., Begum, M. and Murthy, M.R., 2022. Coupled hydrodynamic and water quality modeling in the coastal waters off Chennai, East Coast of India. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, p.987067. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2022.987067.
20. Safaie, A. and Jamaat, A., 2024. Numerical study of hydrodynamics and salinity transport processes in a hypersaline lake: A case study of Lake Urmia. Advances in Water Resources, 185, p.104632. doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2024.104632.
21. Jia, Y., Yang, X., Jiang, H., Lu, B., Tuo, Y., Deng, Y., Zhang, X. and Li, J., 2024. Effect of two-dam coexistence on thermal regime: A special withdrawal measure in Fengman reservoir, China. Ecological Informatics, 82, p.102716. doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2024.102716.
22. Nia, M.Y., Canestrelli, A., Klammler, H., Annable, M.D., Pinton, D. and Jawitz, J.W., 2024. An analytical approach to predict seasonal salinity variations in estuaries. AGU24 (New Orleans).
23. Ahmed, S.I.A., Elsaie, Y., Soussa, H., Gado, M.S. and Balah, A., 2022. Review on Hydrodynamic Modelling of Desalination Plants Brine Effluent Marine Outfalls. International Journal of Advanced Engineering, Management and Science, 8, p.7.  doi:10.22161/ijaems.87.3
24. Amini, H., Lam, M.Y. and Ahmadian, R., 2025. Artificial Intelligence predictive models for diurnal and seasonal shallow lake turnovers. Copernicus Meetings. No. EGU25-20975.  https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-20975.
25. Lumpkin, R., Özgökmen, T. and Centurioni, L., 2017. Advances in the application of surface drifters. Annual review of marine science, 9(1), pp.59-81.  doi: 10.1146/annurev-marine-010816-060641.
26. Mishra, P., Panda, U.S., Pradhan, U., Kumar, C.S., Naik, S., Begum, M. and Ishwarya, J., 2015. Coastal water quality monitoring and modelling off Chennai city. Procedia Engineering, 116, pp.955-962.  doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.386.
27. Kulkarni, R.R., 2013. Numerical Modelling of Coastal Erosion using MIKE21, Master's thesis, Institutt for bygg, anlegg og transport.
28. Nunes, V. and Pawlak, G., 2008. Observations of bed roughness of a coral reef. Journal of Coastal Research, 24-2B pp.39-50. doi:10.2112/05-0616.1.
29. Khordagui, H., 1997. Environmental aspects of brine reject from desalination industry in the ESCWA region. ESCWA, Beirut, 3.
30. Mundial, B., 2007. Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Guidelines.