Dead Sea brine

Occurrence. Bromine [7726-95-6] is found in seawater and in underground brine deposits of marine origin (21). Bromine (qv) is also found in Dead Sea brine and is currently being produced there by the Dead Sea Works. 

Rona and Schmuckler [410] used gel permeation chromatography to separate lithium from Dead Sea brine. The elements emerged from the column in the order potassium, sodium, lithium, magnesium, and calcium and it was possible to separate a lithium-rich fraction also containing some potassium and sodium but no calcium and magnesium. 

Wiernik and Amiel [411] used neutron activation analysis to measure lithium and its isotopic composition in Dead Sea brines. 

The reliability of these parameters can be demonstrated by comparing the measured and calculated values of pK i for seawater. The differences, ApK , are shown in Figure 4. The agreement is quite good and well within the standard error of the experimental data (a = 0.026). Measurements of pK in artificial Dead Sea brines (22) gavepK i = 7.25 0.03 at 25°C compared to a calculated value of pK t = 7.30. The agreement is quite good ana indicates that the parameters are valid to I = 6.0. 

Table 5.3 Chemical Composition of Dead Sea Brines (March 1977, density 1.23 g/ cm3)...

Table 6.7 Dissolved Ions in the Kaneh-Samar Springs and Dead Sea Brine (meq/1)...

Judean Mountains, with a salinity that is negligible compared with the Dead Sea brine, so one actually talks of dilution. 

Table 6.8 Percentages of Dead Sea Brine Diluted by Fresh Water in the Kaneh-Samar Springs (based on the data of Table 6.7), Calculated from the Concentrations of Various Dissolved Ions...

Exercise 6.4 Table 6.7 presents data of springs located on the shore of the Dead Sea and of the Dead Sea brine. Draw a fingerprint diagram of these data, but omit the first three samples because they include nonspecific numbers (e.g., <0.00014) and these cannot be drawn, and apply only the second Dead Sea set of values. How many logarithmic cycles are needed Interpret the data in hydrological terms. 

Fig. 9.2 Stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopic composition of the Hamei Zohar and Hamei Yesha mineral springs, Dead Sea shores. The linear correlation indicates that the springs water is formed by intermixing of Dead Sea brine with local fresh water. (From Gat et al., 1969.)...

Exercise 9.1 From the information included in Fig. 9.2, calculate the percentage of Dead Sea brine intermixed in the Hamei Yesha mineral spring. Do the calculation using the redundant information available, that is, use the <5D and the <5180 values. 

The corresponding <5D values are - 30%o for the fresh water, 0%o for the Dead Sea, — 13%o for Hamei Yesha, and the calculated contribution of Dead Sea brine to the mineral spring is 55%. The values of 57% and 55% are very close, considering the analytical errors and the inaccuracy of reading the data from a graph. 

Major sources of commercial bromine are underground brines in Arkansas (which contain 3000-5000 ppm bromine), China, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Bitterns from mined potash in France and Germany, seawater bitterns in India, Italy, and Japan, and bitterns of potash production (which contain 12,000 ppm bromine) from Dead Sea brines in Israel are the other sources. 

D) Dead Sea brine showing regular salt deposits related to the fluctuation of the lake water level, Israel. 

The bittern (spent brine) from solar salt production contains 300 00 g/L dissolved solids relatively enriched in the less concentrated salt impurities. This may be either discarded or further worked to recover other elements of value. Brine from the Great Salt Lake, for instance, is processed for magnesium chloride hexahydrate recovery [10], which occurs at a density of 1.26g/cm. This is later converted to metallic magnesium [12]. The Dead Sea brines are processed primarily for potassium chloride (potash), but are also worked for sodium and magnesium chlorides and derived products such as bromine and hydrochloric acid [16] (Sections 6.2.2 and 8.8). 

Solar evaporation, from primary and secondary ponds of 100 and 30 km in extent, the initial stage for potassium chloride recovery from the Dead Sea brines [26]. The smaller number of constituent ions present in these waters significantly simplifies salts recovery, and the fact that they contain nearly twice the relative potassium chloride concentration of seawater also improves profitability. Developed from a process, which was first operated in 1931, evaporation in the first pond reduces the volume of the brine to about one-half of the initial volume and brings down much of the sodium chloride together with a small amount of calcium sulfate (Fig. 6.5). The concentrated brines are then transferred to the secondary pond where evaporation of a further 20% of the water causes carnallite (KCl MgCli 6H2O) and some further sodium chloride to crystallize out. With care, a 95% potassium chloride product on a scale of some 910,000 tonne/year is obtained either by countercurrent extraction of the carnallite with brines, or by hot extraction of potassium chloride from the sylvinite matrix followed by fractional crystallization for its eventual recovery [16]. 

FIGURE 6.5 Flow sheet outlining details of potassium chloride recovery from the Dead Sea brines. 

Although the work of Smith and Kennedy only investigates the effect of NaCl on noble gas solubility, they note that the contribution by individual ions should be additive and in dilute brines it should be possible to estimate the salt effect of multi-electrolyte solutions. While no data exists for Mg and Ca ions, data for KI solutions show that kAr is independent of the electrolyte species (Ben-Naim and Egel-Thal 1965), suggesting that an NaCl equivalent concentration provides a reasonable value from which to calculate the Setchenow coefficient. This relationship has been used in multi-ion mixtures such as seawater and for more concentrated solutions such as the Dead Sea brines (Weiss 1970 Weiss and Price 1989). 

River water Water Water Water Radioactive waste streams Water Sea water Sea water Dead Sea brine ASP Sea water and hot springs water... 

Gavrieli, I., A. Starinsky A. Bein, 1989. The solubility of halite as a function of temperature in the highly saline Dead Sea brine system. Limnol. Oceanogr. 34 1224-1234. 

Processing of the Dead Sea brine by the Arab Potash Company (APC) in Jordan traditionally utilizes solar evaporation and the hot leach process to produce potash. However, APCs current expansion involves pro-cessir by flotation followed by cold crystalkzation [109]. The Dead Sea brine typically axitains 11.5 g/1 KCl. 

Reznik, I. J., Gavrieli, I. Ganor, J. (2009). Kinetics of gypsum nucleation and crystal growth from Dead Sea brine. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 73(20), 6218-6230. 

Laboratory Tests on Dead Sea Brine, g/kg (Tandy and Canfy, 1993)... 

Tandy, S., and Canfy, Z. (1993). Lithium Production from Highly SaUne Dead Sea Brines. Rev. Chem. Eng. 9(3-4), 293-317. 

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