Seawater salt composition

Although the chemical removals of the major ions are slow, they collectively exert an important control on the salt composition of seawater. This is illustrated by comparing the major ion composition of seawater to that of river water as shown in Table 21.8. Although river water is the largest single source of the major ions to seawater, its ion... 

Table 5.6 Salt Composition of Seawater and Salting Constants for Benzene, Naphthalene, and 1-Naphthol at 25°C for Some Important Salts...

In pursuit of a chlorine-resistant, non-biodegradable thin-film-composite membrane, Cadotte et al. 97 )03,104 fabricated interfacially the poly(piperazineamide) membrane (NS-300). The interfacially formed piperazine isophthalamide and terephthalamide membranes exhibited high salt rejection (98 %) in sea water tests but their flux was low (Table 8). The replacing of the isophthaloyl chloride with its triacyl chloride analog, trimesoyl chloride improved vastly the flux of the membrane but its seawater salt rejection was low — in the range of 60 70 % (55). The trimesoyl... 

Nonetheless a few commercially successful noncellulosic membrane materials were developed. Polyamide membranes in particular were developed by several groups. Aliphatic polyamides have low rejections and modest fluxes, but aromatic polyamide membranes were successfully developed by Toray [25], Chemstrad (Monsanto) [26] and Permasep (Du Pont) [27], all in hollow fiber form. These membranes have good seawater salt rejections of up to 99.5 %, but the fluxes are low, in the 1 to 3 gal/ft2 day range. The Permasep membrane, in hollow fine fiber form to overcome the low water permeability problems, was produced under the names B-10 and B-15 for seawater desalination plants until the year 2000. The structure of the Permasep B-15 polymer is shown in Figure 5.7. Polyamide membranes, like interfacial composite membranes, are susceptible to degradation by chlorine because of their amide bonds. 

These membranes have exceptional properties, including seawater salt rejections of up to 99.6 % and fluxes of 23 gal/ft2 day at 800 psi. Unfortunately, they are even more sensitive to oxidants such as chlorine or dissolved oxygen than the polyamide/polyurea interfacial composites. The membranes lose their excellent properties after a few hundred hours of operation unless the feed water is completely free of dissolved chlorine and oxygen. A great deal of work was devoted to stabilizing this membrane, with little success. 

The definition of the sea boundary of the mouth area is related to the term mouth-mixing zone. Water salinity within this zone increases from the salinity inherent in river water (usually 0.2-0.5%o) to the salinity of seawater (usually 10-40%o in different seas). The salt composition of water radically changes within the mixing zone river water of hydrocarbonate class and calcium group transforms into seawater of chloride class and sodium group. 

The composition of sea salt reflects the composition of seawater enriched in organic material (marine-derived sterols, fatty alcohols, and fatty acids) that exists in the surface layer of the oceans (Schneider and Gagosian, 1985). Seawater contains 3.5% by weight sea salt and when first emitted the sea salt composition is the same as that of seawater (Table 7.8). Reactions on sea salt particles modify its chemical composition for example, sodium chloride reacts with sulfuric acid vapor to produce sodium sulfate and hydrochloric acid vapor... 

Baseggio evaporated the seawater and reported its composition as a function of density, noting the onsets of gypsum and salt crystallization. The water used was about 10% more concentrated than water from the open oceans (3.76% total salts vs 3.42%) but was identical in salt composition. Evaporation continued until the density of the remaining brine reached 1.25, just at the onset of magnesium precipitation. The volume by then had been reduced to about 3.5% of its starting value salt precipitation did not begin until the volume was reduced by about 89%. 

In nature a slight increase in acidity of an aqueous system, can be noticed when CO2 is dissolved. This raises a question on CO2 dissolution into water, in the case of an aqueous system which has an increased H+ concentration, i.e. a low pH value. Scheme 5 shows pH changes as a function of sulphuric acid addition in open and closed systems using artificial seawater with 3.5 wt.% salinity. The salt composition is also displayed. 

The first reverse osmosis modules made from cellulose diacetate had a salt rejection of approximately 97—98%. This was enough to produce potable water (ie, water containing less than 500 ppm salt) from brackish water sources, but was not enough to desalinate seawater efficiently. In the 1970s, interfacial composite membranes with salt rejections greater than 99.5% were developed, making seawater desalination possible (29,30) a number of large plants are in operation worldwide. 

Saline waters, including seawater, contain, besides a variety of inorganic salts, also organic materials and various particles. They differ in composition from site to site, and also change with time as a result of both natural and human causes. Design and operation of desalination plants requires good knowledge of the saline water composition and properties (41,44). 

Seawater muds are commonly used on offshore locations, which eliminate the necessity of transporting large quantities of freshwater to the drilling location. The other advantage of seawater muds is their inhibition to the hydration and dispersion of clays, because of the salt concentration in seawater. The typical composition of seawater is presented in Table 4-48 most of the hardness of seawater is due to magnesium. 

We turn our attention now to the hydrothermal brines of the Red Sea. An oceanic survey in 1963 discovered pools of hot, saline, and metal-rich brines along the axial rift of the Red Sea (Degens and Ross, 1969 Hoffmann, 1991). The dense brines pond in the rift s depressions, or deeps. The Atlantis II deep contains the largest pool, which measures 5 x 14 km and holds about 5 km3 of supersaline brine. The deep holds two layers of brine. The lower brine contains about 25 wt.% dissolved salts and exists at temperatures up to 60 °C. Table 6.8 shows the brine s average composition. A somewhat cooler, less saline water overlies the lower brine, separating it from normal seawater. 

Schematic longitudinal profile through a semi-isolated basin located in a hot, arid climate and separated from the open sea by a narrow portal. The sill depth, although shallow, is still great enough to permit some two-way flow of surface water. The lines show inferred seawater density (g/cm ) and the arrows show current directions. The pattern of evaporite deposition is based on the relationships between brine density and precipitate composition as shown in Figure 17.1, assuming that salt particles accumulate on the seafloor through the process of pelagic sedimentation. Source-. From Scruton, P. C. (1953). American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 37, 2498-2512.

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