Determination of the Rate of Formation of Solids from Hypersaline Geothermal Brine as a Function of pH

摘要

This report is a preliminary description of the results obtained in the analysis of the effluent brine from the LLL four-stage flash system. Of principal interest was the rate of formation of suspended solids and the rate of decrease of dissolved silicon (or silica) in the solution as a function of the pH of the effluent brine. The experiments were conducted using Magmamax No. 1 brine at the LLL Test Facility near Calipatria, California. The well¬head brine (having a pH of ~5.7) was acidified in the flash system to pH values of 5.0, 4.0, and 3.0, ±0.2 pH unit, and the solids and silica in the effluent at ~90°C were measured, respectively, by filtration and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Changes in solids and silica concentration were determined after holding the brine at 90 ± 5°C for periods of time up to one week.