Research on the behaviour of a brine discharge into a port using a 3D physical model

摘要

In order to palliate the water deficit suffered in the Southeast of Spain, itrnis planned to build several sea water desalination plants on thernMediterranean coast.rnThe waste brine disposal generated during the desalination process isrntotally discharged into the sea. Therefore, a large number of experimentsrnhave been carried out over the last years in order to avoid or minimizernthe negative impacts that the concentrate discharges cause on marinernecosystems. Researches aimed to know and predict the effluentrnbehaviour, lean towards the design and study of several dischargerndevices.rnThe infralitoral zone of the Mediterranean coast is covered by arncontinuous meadow of the endemic sea grass P. oceanica whosernecosystem is protected by environmental regulations due to its greatrnecological value. For this reason, it is so necessary to discharge the brinerndisposal in a suitable arearnUp to now, many different experiments have been carried out in order tornfind out the most appropriate conditions. These conditions are normallyrnassociated with a discharge system from which a maximum dilution isrnobtained. The discharge system is located in a strong hydrodynamic arearnand, as far as possible from the nearest bank of Posidonia.rnHowever, depending on the characteristics of the environment in therndischarge area, it may occur that these optimum conditions are notrnsuitable for a specific desalination plant. Hence, it would be necessary tornlook for different alternatives.