Swirl Valve for Brine Outfalls

of Seawater Desalination Plants

A/Prof Adrian Wing-Keung, LAW

Director, DHI-NTU Centre, NEWRI and

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

13 Apr 2014
 SWRO Desalination Brine 2

elevated salinity;
chlorine coagulant
coagulant aid
suspended particles concentration
pretreatment chemicals;
antiscalants;

antiscalant
sodium bisulfite

Brine

NaOH
antiscalant Source: Tampa Bay Water (2013),
Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination
Plant;
 3
Environmental impacts on marine ecosystem

Outfalls
+A
+C A
+B

500m B
Figure: Desalination Plant Maspalomas II, Spain C
Source: Google earth; Pérez Talavera, J.L. and Quesada Ruiz, J.J. (2001), Identification of
the mixing processes in brine discharges carried out in Barranco del Toro Beach, south of
Gran Canaria (Canary Islands);
 4
Environmental impact
Potential salinity impacts on seagrass

Posidonia oceanica (L.)

Source: Sanchez-Lizaso et al. 2008; Gacia et al. 2007; Fernandez-Torquemada et al. 2005;
Latorre 2005; Buceta et al. 2003; Tobias Bleninger (2010), Marine outfall systems; Photos:
Manu San Felix;
 5
Environmental impact
Potential salinity impacts on marine species

Mortality rate analysis:

Definition
Mortality rate is a measure of the number
of deaths per unit of time in a population,
scaled to the size of that population (in %),
in response to a specific cause.

Mortality rate analysis

Three marine species:
Mysidopsis, mysid shrimp;
Cyprinodon, sheephead minnow;
Menidia, silverside minnow;
Unit of time: 48 hrs continued exposure
LC50 (lethal concentration, 50%)

Source: WateReuse Desalination Committee (2011), Seawater concentrate management;

 6
Environmental impact
Toxicity of antiscalants

Source: Tobias Bleninger (2010), Marine outfall systems;

 7
Submerged Brine Outfall
 Full submergence of the brine plume is generally targeted as design
requirement;
 Discharge facility cost/Capital cost: 10~30% or even higher (WateReuse
Association, 2011).

SWRO plant
Negatively
buoyant jet
Brine outfall
pipe

Source: WateReuse Association, 2011, Seawater Desalination Costs white paper.

POSEIDON water (2013), Sea Water Reverse Osmosis Cost Trend;
 8
Submerged brine discharge
 9

Outfall types
Multi-port diffuser: Alternate

Figure: Gold coast seawater desalination plant, Australia

Source: Tom Pankratz (2012), Seawater intakes and outfalls: An overview;

WateReuse Desalination Committee (2011), Seawater concentrate management;
 10

Multi-port diffuser: Rosette

Duckbill Valve

Adelaide Desalination plant, Australia

Source: Youtube, Marine life near Adelaide Desalination Plant

outfall diffuser;
 11
Submerged brine discharge

 negatively buoyant jet, or dense jet;

 terminal rise height, zt, and return point dilution, Sr;

Figure: Schematic side view of a typical inclined negatively buoyant jet

in stagnant ambient
 12

Densimetric Froude Number

Geometrical parameter and dilution coefficients

Dimensional analysis • Fr Densimetric Froude Number

U U Jet exit velocity
Fr = ____________
•
___________
√ g(ρb- ρa)/ρa D • ρb Brine density
• Ρa Ambient density
x
____ S • D Discharge diameter
, ___ = constant x Geometrical parameter
D·Fr Fr •
(for a specific θ)
• S Dilution (c0/c)
 13
Inclined brine discharge with different degrees

30 degree

45 degree

Source: Shao, D. and Law, A.W.K. (2010), Mixing and Boundary Interactions of 30
and 45 degree Inclined Dense Jets; Journal of Environmental Fluid Mechanics
 14
Shallow coastal waters: Bohai Bay, East China Sea

Tianjin

10m

100 km 100 km

Shanghai
Figure: Bathymetric and satellite map of Bohai Bay & East China Sea
Source: Dongyan Liu, Yueqi Wang (2013), Trends of satellite derived chlorophyll-a (1997–2011) in the Bohai
and Yellow Seas, China: Effects of bathymetry on seasonal and inter-annual patterns; Cast view geospatial;
 Singapore Desalination Plant at Tuas
15

Civil Engineering Magazine

ASCE
 16
Concept of Swirl Valve
 A non-return valve with the introduction of swirling at the nozzle
outlet, to increase the mixing of brine discharge, and to reduce the
terminal rise height of brine plume in shallow coastal waters
 Potential to shorten the outfall pipe and reduce capital cost;
 Effect of the initial swirl intensity on the jet mixing behavior was
experimentally studied

SWRO plant
Negatively
Brine outfall buoyant jet
pipe

shortening of
the outfall pipe length
Experimental setup for SPLIF and SPIV 17

SPLIF: Scanning Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence

SPIV: Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry

Figure: Schematic diagram for the experiment setup

 18
PLIF: Concentration distribution map

Figure: Experimental PLIF images for a fully submerged inclined dense jet

Figure: Calibrated instantaneous concentration distribution

Experimental setup for Scanning LIF 19
 20
Scanning PLIF System

(a)

Image acquisition frequency: up to 200Hz

 21
Scanning PLIF Results
(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure: (a) Time averaged side view; (b) Front view; (c) Spatial concentration
distribution; (d) Iso-surface, Dilution=20;
 22
Horizontal pure jet for system verification

(a) Dilution along the jet centerline (b) cross-sectional

concentration profile

(c) Concentration fluctuation along the centerline (d) Concentration e-width growth rate
 23
SPIV: stereo vision

 Each camera plays the role of the human eye, looking at the flow
field from different angles;
 The software plays the role of the brain, relating the observed 2-
dimensional displacements pairs to 3D displacements.

Figure: Fundamental principle of SPIV (DANTEC)

 24
SPIV: Initial swirl intensity
Axial Velocity

Angular Velocity

Peak mean tangential velocity

Degree of swirl (G) = ___________________________
Peak mean axial velocity
 25
SPIV: Initial swirl intensity

(a) (b)

Figure: The distribution of (a) tangential velocity and (b) axial velocity at the nozzle exit

Peak mean tangential velocity

___________________________
Degree of swirl (G) =
Peak mean axial velocity
 26

(a) Non-swirling, G=0

(b) Swirling, G=0.22

(c) Swirling, G=0.33

 27

(a) Non-swirling, G=0

(b) Swirling, G=0.22

(c) Swirling, G=0.33

 28
PLIF: Mixing characteristics

Concentration decay along the centerline Expansion/growth rate of the brine plume width

 Introduction of swirling substantially enhances the mixing

of the brine discharge near the outfall
 Enhanced mixing leads to faster concentration delay and
wider expansion of the brine plume
 Scanning PLIF: Spatial concentration distribution 29

(a) Non-swirling, G=0

(b) Swirling, G=0.22

(c) Swirling, G=0.33

 Scanning PLIF: Lateral spreading 30

(a) Non-swirling, G=0

(b) Swirling, G=0.22

(c) Swirling, G=0.33

 The swirl enhances the lateral spreading c/cm

of the brine plume, i.e. the entrainment of
the ambient water

y/D

3 5 7 9 11 13
(x-x0)/D
Terminal rise height with Swirl Valve 31

 Centerline peak height

and terminal rise height
significantly reduce with
swirling
 Effective when G > 0.2
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Summary
 Concept of Swirling Valve can increase the mixing efficiency of the brine
discharge near the outfall;
 The terminal rise height reduces significantly when G > 0.2;
 The length of the outfall pipe can be shortened with swirling in shallow
coastal waters, thereby reduces the capital cost of the desalination plant.

SWRO plant
Negatively
Brine outfall buoyant jet
pipe

shortening of
the outfall pipe length