El Melah brine deposit

As a test of our ability to calculate activity coefficients in natural brines, we consider groundwater from the Sebkhat El Melah brine deposit near Zarzis, Tunisia (Perthuisot, 1980). The deposit occurs in a buried evaporite basin composed of halite (NaCl), anhydrite (CaSC>4), and dolomite [CaMg(CC>3)2]. The Tunisian government would like to exploit the brines for their chemical content, especially for the potassium, which is needed to make fertilizer. 

Table 8.8. Chemical compositions (g l x) of brines from the Sebkhat El Melah brine deposit, Zarzis, Tunisia (Jarraya and El Mansar, 1987)...

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