Resource recovery from desalination, the case of small islands

Resource recovery from desalination, the case of small islands

Palmeros Parada, M.D.M. (TU Delft Sanitary Engineering)
Randazzo, Serena (Università degli Studi di Palermo)
Gamboa, Gonzalo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Ktori, R. (TU Delft BT/Environmental Biotechnology)
Bouchaut, B.F.H.J. (TU Delft BT/Biotechnology and Society)
Cipolina, Andrea (Università degli Studi di Palermo)
Micale, Giorgio (Università degli Studi di Palermo)
Xevgenos, Dimitris (TU Delft Energy and Industry)

2023

This work explores resource recovery coupled to seawater desalination in small islands. As small islands depend on seawater desalination for water access, they make an excellent ground for exploring the trade-offs associated to resource recovery, like potential economic gains, energy use, and environmental impacts. Here, we investigated these tensions in the context of Lampedusa, in Italy. We then developed and evaluated scenarios for the recovery of additional water, Mg, and other resources from brines, to identify if and how resource recovery is an interesting approach for the island vis-à-vis these tensions. We have found that the potential to increase water production with water recovery from brine is an interesting alternative for small islands, especially when harnessing waste heat. However, while some technologies offer possibilities for recovering additional resources, in places like small islands the potential benefits from additional recovery do not seem to justify the costs to the local system.

Circular economy
Desalination
Resource recovery
Responsible innovation
Sustainable design

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a8865037-045f-4aaa-b1be-38f52eff1e6d

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107287

0921-3449

Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 199

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2023 M.D.M. Palmeros Parada, Serena Randazzo, Gonzalo Gamboa, R. Ktori, B.F.H.J. Bouchaut, Andrea Cipolina, Giorgio Micale, Dimitris Xevgenos