Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-021-09570-4
(0123456789().,-volV)
( 01234567
89().,-volV)

REVIEW PAPER

A review of resource recovery from seawater desalination

brine
Xin Zhang . Wenyan Zhao . Yang Zhang . Veeriah Jegatheesan

Received: 15 October 2020 / Accepted: 24 February 2021 / Published online: 16 March 2021
Ó The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2021

Abstract In order to address freshwater scarcity, and reverse electrodialysis (RED) utilize the salinity
seawater desalination technologies have been widely gradient energy (SGE) to generate energy. The
studied in recent years. However, the disposal of valuable mineral products have also been reviewed
desalination brine which contains an even higher in this paper in terms of recovery methods, perfor-
concentration of salts than seawater can potentially mance of processes and product quality. The reviewed
damage the surrounding environment. Therefore, products are sodium salts (NaCl, NaOH, Na2SO4),
alternative approaches aiming to recover valuable lithium salts (LiCl, Li2CO3), magnesium salts (stru-
resources from desalination brine have been con- vite, Mg(OH)2, MgSO4, MgO), calcium salts (CaSO4,
ducted. Three resources that can be recovered have CaCO3) and other minerals (U, Rb, Cs). Based on the
been studied in this paper, which are minerals, cost and revenues of each technique, an economic
freshwater and energy. The techniques to recover comparison has been conducted along with the cost
minerals can be divided into pressure-driven tech- analysis of operating desalination plants.
niques, thermal-driven techniques, electro-driven
techniques and other techniques. The water recovery Keywords Desalination brine  Economic
techniques employ mainly membrane/thermal inte- evaluation  Resource recovery  Seawater desalination
grated hybrid processes, while the energy recovery
techniques such as pressure retarded osmosis (PRO)

1 Introduction
X. Zhang  V. Jegatheesan (&)
School of Engineering and Water: Effective Technologies
and Tools Research Centre, RMIT University, Melbourne,
Freshwater shortage has become one of the most
VIC 3000, Australia severe environmental issues that threaten the lives
e-mail: jega.jegatheesan@rmit.edu.au around the world. It is estimated that 40 percent
shortfall in freshwater resources by 2030 with rapid
W. Zhao
Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess
population increase has the world careening towards a
Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 189 Songling global water crisis (United Nations 2018). Seawater
Road, Laoshan District, Qingdao 266101, China and high saline brackish water account for more than
97 percent of the earth’s water, however, these water
Y. Zhang
School of Environmental and Safety Engineering,
sources are either undesirable or unavailable for use
Qingdao University of Science and Technology, without the application of technologies capable of
Shandong, China

123
334 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

removing large portions of the salinity and dissolved and after further recovery of freshwater, the brine is
solids (Cotruvo et al. 2011; Bartram 2015). Water likely to reach a nearly saturated concentration, which
desalination refers to a series of processes that separate will significantly favour the extraction of the minerals.
the fresh water from seawater or other water sources The interests in resource recovery from brine origi-
which are too saline for use. There are dozens of nated since 1970s, but only in the last 20 years, many
desalination technologies available, and the principal publications have emerged as shown in Fig 1.
methods are thermal, pressure and electric potential Therefore, we chose 20 years of data in Figure 1 to
among which the most commonly used in the market confirm that there was an interest in resource recovery
nowadays is membrane processes such as reverse 20 years ago and to know how that interest has gained
osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) (Sethi and momentum in the past 5 years. The reasons for this
Wetterau 2011). After the desalination process, there rapid increase of interest are: a sharp increase of the
are two products generated: the main product is desalination capacity around the world, a remarkable
freshwater that can be used for various purposes and deduction in desalination cost and the emergence of
the by-product is brine that contains higher salinity new development in extraction methods (Ghaffour
compared to feed water. The salinity of reject brine is et al. 2013). With these new advances, extraction of
enriched by minerals and the concentrations of minerals from the desalination brine could become
minerals in the brine will be twice that of seawater more feasible and economical.
source (Kaplan et al. 2017). The most common brine Currently, two most commonly used approaches for
disposal strategies include surface water discharge, brine management are volume reduction and ZLD
deep well injection, disposal to evaporation ponds and (Chung et al. 2017). Apart from fresh water and
land application, which will severely contaminate the minerals, another valuable resource that can be
surrounding environment of water bodies and the soil recovered from desalination brine is energy. By
(Pramanik et al. 2017). Therefore, eco-friendly and harvesting the energy in the brine and transferring to
sustainable alternatives, and even achieving zero the feed side via various methods, the energy
liquid discharge (ZLD) have been studied throughout consumption could be reduced from 8 to 2.5 kWh/
the years. m3 (Kadaj and Bosleman 2018). The current ‘state-of-
In addition, freshwater is not the only natural the-art’ technology used for energy recovery is
resources facing a tremendous shortfall in meeting the pressure exchange (PX) devices. However, the devel-
demands of growing population across the world. The opment of novel technologies such as pressure
conventional land-based mining industries have been retarded osmosis (PRO), and reverse electrodialysis
struggling due to the depletion of high-grade minerals, (RED) provides more alternatives in recent years
lack of water and energy supply, environmental issues, (Saito et al. 2012; Olkis et al. 2018). The mechanism
and geopolitical conflicts (Loganathan et al. 2017). of energy recovery from the brine is to utilize the
Seawater on the earth contains approximately 5 9 1016 salinity gradient energy (SGE) between the brine and a
tonnes of salts which is estimated to be much more
than minerals available from all the land-based mines
combined. Most of the known elements can be found
in seawater although many of them are at very low
concentrations (Ohya et al. 2001; Dorji et al. 2020).
Four most concentrated metals–sodium, magnesium,
calcium, and potassium—have already been commer-
cially extracted (Bardi 2010) and the extraction of
other critical metals and valuable elements such as
rare-earth elements (REEs), platinum group metals
(PGMs), lithium, copper, cobalt, silver and gold has
also been discussed (Diallo et al. 2015). Despite the
relatively low concentration of minerals in the natural
Fig. 1 Number of articles with keywords ‘resource recovery’
saline water makes the extraction hard to implement, and ‘desalination’ during the topic search in ScienceDirect
the desalination brine constitutes much higher salinity; (derived from database ScienceDirect, 6 October 2020)

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 335

lower salinity stream, which has been considered as a have not yet been fully utilized. Therefore, it has been
new form of renewable energy for desalination proposed to recover useful resources from seawater,
industries (Logan and Elimelech 2012). Compared to brine, and desalination concentrates to solve the
the traditional renewable energy sources such as solar, problems related to high salinity stream management
wind and geothermal, SGE stands out due to its and mineral depletion in conventional ores.
continuity as it is ensured only by the hydrological
cycle which guarantees the reestablishment of the 2.1 Minerals recovery techniques
original streams and salinity levels (Micale et al.
2016). Based on the type of driving force is employed, the
The economic analysis of the resource recovery is minerals recovery techniques can generally be divided
another crucial consideration as costs of different into four categories: (1) pressure-driven, such as NF,
approaches may vary greatly in terms of disposal and RO, (2) thermally driven, such as evaporation and
strategies, energy consumption, minerals price, oper- membrane distillation (MD), (3) electrochemical
ating and maintenance expenses etc. Although it is potential-driven and (4) physico-chemically driven,
difficult to compare the exact costs of each recovery such as adsorption, ion exchange, etc. In this section,
technique, it is possible to evaluate the feasibility of a the mechanisms, development and application of four
specific approach to reduce the capital cost of the types of minerals recovery technologies are reviewed.
desalination process (Kim 2011). The expenses to be Currently the four most concentrated metals (i.e., Na,
considered should include the investment of the Mg, Ca, and K) are commercially extracted in the form
recovery process, the energy consumption, operating of Cl- and SO42-. In addition, minor elements such as
and maintenance expenses and the tax payment, while Li, U, Sr, Ru and Rb etc. were extracted from seawater
the revenues are mainly from the value of salts which and desalination concentrate by specific methods.
highly depends on the purity and quality, the addi-
tional fresh water production and the energy recovered 2.1.1 Pressure-driven techniques
(Shahmansouri et al. 2015). If the revenues can
significantly reduce or even exceed the expenses, the The pressure-driven technologies usually refer to
feasibility of the approach should be considered. membrane processes which utilize a semipermeable
The objective of this paper is to discuss the membrane for the selective passage of water mole-
technologies available for three valuable resources cules over salt ions with the application of pressure.
that can be recovered from the desalination brine: The most commonly used membranes are reverse
minerals, fresh water, and energy. Furthermore, the osmosis (RO, operating pressures of 35–100 bar) and
paper also compares the characteristics of each nanofiltration (NF, with a pore size of 0.5–10 nm,
mineral in terms of quality, current state-of-the-art operating pressures of 10–30 bar). Ultrafiltration (UF,
approach and possible improvement for the future pore size of 1–100 nm, operating pressures of 1–10
studies. Finally, the economic analysis of integrating bar) and microfiltration (MF, pore size of 0.1–5 lm,
resource recovery techniques is conducted. operating pressures of 1–10 bar) (Cui et al. 2010).
These methods can increase the concentration of salt
from 2 to 2.5 times that of seawater, which is very
2 Resource recovery techniques competitive as a concentration step for minerals
recovery. MF and UF often serve as a pre-treatment
Nowadays, seawater desalination has become essen- strategy prior to integrating with other processes such
tial for the world’s freshwater supply. However, the as NF and RO when extracting critical metals and
traditional treatment of the desalinated concentrate elements from seawater or brines (Diallo et al. 2015).
such as direct discharge into sea or deep well injection Reverse osmosis is currently the most widely
has become a big concern to environmental ecosystem employed desalination technology. The current pro-
(Pramanik et al. 2017). Recently, with the introduction duction of desalinated water from reverse osmosis
and development of a new concept of zero discharge, stands at 65.5 million m3/day, accounting for 69% of
seawater, brine, and industrial wastewater are consid- the global desalination capacity (Jones et al. 2019).
ered to be important sources of valuable elements that However, in order to drive water through the

123
336 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

membrane and produce purified water, it requires the will crystallize when the saturation point is reached. In
application of hydraulic pressure in excess of the general, these methods are energy extensive and
osmotic pressure of the generated brine and the require high-grade thermal energy. Recently, efforts
mechanical robustness of the materials is required to have shifted towards the use of renewable energy
overcome the osmotic pressures encountered. Com- sources for thermally driven techniques. The solar
paratively, NF as a lower pressure-membrane process thermal desalination (STD) systems have received
with high rejection for multi-valent ions had been more attention (Wang et al. 2019b). Evaporation
identified as a key strategy to increase the purity of the ponds are used first to treat brine in warm and dry areas
product and to reduce the cost relating to membrane in which water slowly evaporates via direct solar
fouling in the desalination process. Thus, NF technol- heating, which requires low maintenance and minimal
ogy was often integrated with various types of mechanical equipment. However, a large land area and
desalination technologies including RO, electrodialy- a lengthy time are needed. In addition, MSF and MED
sis (ED), and multi-stage flash (MSF) (Zhou et al. have been implemented very well as thermal desali-
2015). Table 1 demonstrates the number, capacity and nation technologies in today’s thermal desalination
global share of operational desalination plants by processes. The MSF distillation process is based on the
region. principle of flash evaporation. However, it was
reported that MSF and MED have much more energy
2.1.2 Thermally driven techniques footprint, which consume 17.1 and 11.9 kWh/m3,
respectively (Antonyan 2019). The power consump-
Thermally driven techniques developed rapidly at tion of a MED plant is much lower than that of an MSF
earlier stages of the evolution of desalination, includ- plant.
ing multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation, multi-effect Alternatively, MD is a novel thermally driven
distillation (MED) and membrane distillation. It membrane process, which is based on partial vapor
provides most of the world’s desalination capacity pressure difference across a microporous hydrophobic
until the recent developments of the membrane in the membrane. It synergistically assists in mineral recov-
1980s. This method of recovering minerals from ery and simultaneously produces pure water. Com-
seawater and seawater desalination brine involves paratively, MD has advantages of potentially
natural evaporation of water and leaving a concen- replacing evaporation ponds in conventional mineral
trated salt solution. The salts dissolved in the solution production processes because of its small footprint,

Table 1 Number, capacity, and global share of desalination plants by region

Number of Desalination capacity
desalination plants
(million m3/day) (%)

Global 15,906 95.37 100

Geographic region
Middle East and North Africa 4826 45.32 47.5
East Asia and Pacific 3505 17.52 18.4
North America 2341 11.34 11.9
Western Europe 2337 8.75 9.2
Latin America and Caribbean 1373 5.46 5.7
Southern Asia 655 2.94 3.1
Eastern Europe and Central Asia 566 2.26 2.4
Sub-Saharan Africa 303 1.78 1.9
(Reprinted from Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 657, E Jones et al. The state of desalination and brine production: A global
outlook, 1343–1356., 2019, with permission from Elsevier)

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 337

ability to utilize industrial low-grade heat and ability monovalent ion and divalent ion is crucial to reuse the
to concentrate the solutions to their saturation level products. Dong et.al (2020) investigated the effect of
(Hickenbottom and Cath 2014; Ali et al. 2015). These applied current density and concentration of counter-
features of MD provide perfect conditions for mem- ions on permselectivity based on the standard cation
brane crystallization (MCr) which utilizes the near ion exchange membranes in ED process. The results
saturation liquid stream to produce salt crystals. The showed that increasing the current density (below the
purity and size distribution of crystals produced by limiting condition) led to the decrease in the transport
MCr are usually higher than those conventional of Mg2? and the permselectivity over Na?. The
crystallizers because the MD process can concentrate specifically designed electrodialysis stack ‘selectro-
the brine to near saturation. Along with additional dialysis’ which incorporated monovalent ion
freshwater production and utilization of low-grade exchange membranes in the ED stack, was proposed
energy, MCr is believed as one of the most promising by Zhang et al. (2012) to fractionate SO42-/Cl-. Ideal
techniques for minerals recovery (Pramanik et al. selectivity was suggested to be used for the evaluation
2017). of the specific permselectivity of monovalent selective
membranes, which can predict the purity of a salt
2.1.3 Electrochemical potential-driven techniques produced in a dynamic electrodialysis process with a
monovalent selective membrane (Wang et al. 2019a).
Electrochemical potential-driven desalination tech- In addition, there are more efforts on the modification
nologies are based on the directional migration of of the commercial ion exchange membranes and
charged ions under the electrical field to remove the improvement of selective ion exchange membranes to
dissolved ions in feedwater. Unlike pressure-based enhance the separation of Cl/SO42- and Na?/Mg2?
and thermal-based technologies mentioned above, (Reig et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2019a; Liao et al. 2020).
they are based on the migration of ions under the Apart from common salts, a lot of efforts have been
electric field rather than the removal of water. In devoted to the valorisation of the main components
addition, high pressure or high temperature are not presented in the concentrate into acids and bases
required in electrochemical potential-driven desalina- which rely on the electrochemical potential-driven
tion technology. On the other hand, it was reported that technologies such as electrolysis, bipolar membrane
for brackish water desalination (salinity\15 g/L), the electrodialysis (Ibáñez et al. 2013; Chen et al. 2018).
electrochemical potential-driven processes should be Similarly, CDI was also applied for selective minerals
energetically more efficient compared to other water recovery. Lee et al. (2017) studied a novel membrane
technologies such as the pressure-driven (RO) and capacitive deionization system which consisted of a
thermally driven based technology (Pan et al. 2018). lithium manganese oxide electrode for lithium ion
Therefore, there exists a theoretically promising capturing and a carbon electrode for anion capturing
alternative to pressure-driven and thermally driven from aqueous solutions containing various cations
processes in the form of electrochemical potential- (Li?, Na?,K?,Ca2?, and Mg2?). Table 2 below shows
driven technologies. Recently, electro dialysis and the summary of three main driven forces for minerals
capacitive deionization (CDI) have become the prin- extraction from different sources.
cipally investigated electrochemical potential -driven
technologies for desalination. 2.1.4 Physico-chemically driven techniques
An ED stack consists of anion exchange membrane
(AEM) and cation exchange membrane (CEM) The extraction of minor components concentrated in
arranged alternatively. Driven by the influence of an the seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brines can
electric field, anions pass through CEM but retained by become a valuable source of target compounds, such
AEM, while cations pass through AEM but retained by as Cs, In and Rb (Ortiz-Albo et al. 2019). Neverthe-
CEM, which results in the desalting of the feed water. less, minerals that occur at low concentrations in
ED technology has been applied for several other seawater are difficult to recover by aforementioned
unique commercial applications, such as the concen- methods because it is hard to selectively separate them
tration process and production of sea-salt, acid/base from other minerals and to precipitate and crystallise.
and metals (Zhao et al. 2018). The fractionation of Therefore, other conventional metal extraction

123
338 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

Table 2 Summary of three main driven forces for minerals extraction from different sources
Driving force Desalination technology Source Target mineral(s) References

Pressure NF Salt Lake brine Li Li et al. (2019a)

Bioleaching solutions In, Ge Werner et al. (2019)
Thermal Evaporation SWRO brine Ca, Mg, Na, K Ravizky and Nadav (2007)
MD Hypersaline solutions Salts Hickenbottom and Cath (2014)
MCr Saline solution NaCl, Li, Ca Bouchrit et al. (2017)
Quist-Jensen et al. (2016b)
Choi et al. (2018)
Electrochemical potential ED Brines Li, Mg Liu et al. (2020)
Ghyselbrecht et al. (2019)
CDI Aqueous solution Li Lee et al. (2017)
BMED Aqueous solution B; Li İpekçi et al. (2018)
RO brine NaCl Ibáñez et al. (2013)
BMSED SWRO brine NaCl Chen et al. (2018)

Table 3 Summary of physico-chemically driven techniques for the recovery of minerals

Target Source(s) Reference
mineral(s)

Adsorption/desorption Li, U, Sr, Rb Seawater/Seawater RO brine Loganathan et al.

(2017)
Ion exchange Cs, In, Rb Seawater RO brine Arroyo et al. (2019)
Temperature swing solvent NaCl Synthetic seawater brine (5.0 M NaCl Chanhee et al. (2020)
extraction solution)

technologies such as adsorption and desorption, ion solvent extraction (TSSE) is an application which
exchange, solvent extraction and precipitation/crys- utilizes a low-polarity solvent to extract water over salt
tallization for the recovery of minor components are selectively (Chanhee et al. 2020). The waste solids
also described in literature (Chanhee et al. 2020; produced in ZLD can be more easily disposed in leach-
Loganathan et al. 2017; Ortiz-Albo et al. 2019). proofed landfills or further processed to recover
Table 3 shows the summary of these technologies. valuable mineral by-products.
Nowadays, adsorbents with high capacity to selec-
tively adsorb specific minerals have been developed 2.2 Water recovery techniques
and successfully tested to recover many minerals. The
recovery of Li, U, Sr and Rb from seawater or seawater Scaling is one of the most severe problems in
brine using the adsorption/desorption has been widely membrane processes. The concentration of scale-
reviewed (Loganathan et al. 2017). In addition, ion forming species such as CaCO3, CaSO4 and silica
exchange is another process which has been studied increases during desalination processes. Then the
for the recovery of minerals. Ion exchange is a scalants precipitate onto the membrane surface result-
reversible process utilizing the exchange of ions ing in the reduction of permeate flow (Tzotzi et al.
between a liquid phase and a solid phase. Based on 2007). Due to the scaling limitations and high osmotic
the special chemical structure of the ion exchange pressure in the retentate, the water recovery of a
resin, certain ions such as lithium can be selectively seawater reverse osmosis plant is usually limited to
recovered (Arroyo et al. 2019). Temperature swing 40% to 60%, which indicates that approximately 50%

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 339

Fig. 2 Water recovery and 100 1.2

operational cost comparison Water recovery rate (%)
92.8
in different desalination
90 Cost ($/tonne) 1.04
processes. Source: 1—
Kurihara et al. (2001); 2— 1
Turek and Dydo (2003); 3— 80 77.2 78.2
0.9
Turek and Chora˛z_ ewska
(2009); 4—Drioli et al. 70 69

Water recovery rate (%)

(2002); 5. Turek et al. 0.8
(2018). (Note: NF-RO-
60

Cost ($/tonne)
MSF-crys. is NF-RO-MSF- 0.69
crystallization system)
50 0.6

40 0.5
40

0.37 0.4
30

20
0.2

10

0 0
SWRO (1) NF-RO-MSF-crys.(2) UF-RO-MED (3) NF-MCr (4) NF-SWRO-ED (5)

of the water exists in the concentrate (Kurihara et al. 2.3 Energy recovery techniques
2001). After the extraction of minerals from the
retentate, the salinity of the leftover solution is Electricity is generated using hydropower, coal, wind,
relatively low, which can be used as a source for nuclear energy and gas. The largest power plant is the
further treatment to produce additional fresh water. Three Gorges Dam hydropower plant in China
Therefore, the extraction of minerals and water producing 22,500 MW (Cleveland and Morris 2013).
recovery from desalination concentrate can be Coal fired Loy Yang in Victoria is the largest power
achieved simultaneously and can reduce the costs of station in Australia by capacity. The two Loy Yang
the processes significantly. Numerous integrated power stations (Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B) have a
methods have been studied for this purpose. A hybrid combined capacity exceeding 3000 MW, generating
NF-RO-MSF-crystallization system was investigated about half of Victoria’s electricity needs. However, if
and a water recovery of 77.2% was reported (Turek Loy Yang A and B are counted as separate power
and Dydo 2003). Based on this result, further exper- stations, coal fired Eraring Power Station (2880 MW)
iments were conducted with the modification of the in New South Wales is Australia’s largest (Engineer-
system by introducing UF and MED, which increased ing Australia 2018). In order to reduce the energy
the total water recovery rate to 78.2% (Turek and consumption and take full advantage of desalination
Chora˛z_ ewska 2009). In a recent work, the integration brine, the interests of recovering energy from SWRO
of NF and membrane crystallization achieved up to concentrate by an energy device has continued to grow
92.8% of water recovery (Drioli et al. 2002; Macedo- in recent years. It is estimated up to 40.7 million
nio et al. 2007). Apart from crystallization-based kWh/day of energy can be recovered from the total
systems, a NF-SWRO-ED system was also examined energy consumption of approximately 308 million
by Turek et al. (2018) and found that an overall water kWh/day in the SWRO plants globally (Wan and
recovery of 69% at an energy consumption of 6.9 Chung 2016). The SGE can be exploited by several
kWh/m3. Figure 2 below shows the water recovery technologies such as PRO and RED.
comparison in different desalination processes. Pressure retarded osmosis is a process that utilizes a
semi-permeable membrane to harvest the Gibbs free

123
340 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

energy of mixing by allowing water to transport of new membrane materials such as graphene was
through a low concentrate solution (fresh water or found to have much more permeability than conven-
industrial wastewater) into a draw solution with high tional membranes which can enhance the water flux
concentration (seawater or RO retentate) (Logan and (can be doubled) and improve the performance of PRO
Elimelech 2012). While the draw solution is getting significantly (Cohen-Tanugi and Grossman 2012).
diluted, the Gibbs free energy would convert to the Reverse electrodialysis is another membrane-based
hydraulic pressure, which can be utilized to drive a technology that can convert SGE between two aque-
pressure exchanger to produce mechanical energy or ous solutions into electrical power. During the RED
propel a turbine to produce electrical energy (Jia et al. process, two solutions with different salinity are
2014). The maximum power density, Wmax generated pumped into cells which are created by the alterna-
by PRO can be obtained using the following equation: tively arranged ion exchange membranes. An electri-
  cal current is generated with the positive ions are
A
Wmax ¼  ðDpÞ2 ð1Þ moving towards one electrode, and the negative ions
4
are moving towards the other electrode, which can be
where A is the permeability of the membrane and Dp is harvested to charge other appliances (Vermaas et al.
osmotic pressure difference (effective Dp) between 2012). The concentrated RO retentate can provide
the brine and the feed solution. Corresponding ideally high salinity feed for RED units, while the
hydraulic pressure drop, DP across the membrane will RED processes can operate as a pre-treatment method
be equal to Dp/2. Thus, the membrane permeability is for RO by reducing the osmotic pressure of the
key for increasing the maximum power generation. concentrate. Thus, the RED-RO hybrid processes
Concentration polarisation will affect the effective Dp. would be an ideal combination for low energy
Mass transfer coefficient, diffusion coefficient, struc- seawater desalination and brine management (Li
tural constant of the porous support of the membrane, et al. 2013). Theoretically, only 50% of energy can
S ( = tortuosity of the membrane, s 9 membrane be captured in a single electrode segment due to the
thickness, d membrane porosity, e) and salt perme- internal resistance of the RED cells (Veerman et al.
ability coefficient will all affect the power density. 2009). However, Vermaas et al. (2013) reported that
Larger permeability and smaller salt permeability and the energy efficiency of RED can reach up to 95%
structural constants will increase the maximum power under different flow orientations along the membrane
density. The following power densities have been (co-current flow, cross-flow and counter-current flow),
demonstrated for different membranes: spiral wound which provides new insights into the energy efficiency
module—0.5 W/m2 and lab-cast thin-film composite in RED. Fig. 3 below demonstrates the schematic
(TFC) membrane—3.5 W/m2. However, generation of diagram of one RED stack.
a minimum of 5 W/m2 power density is required for
PRO to be economically feasible. Flat sheet and 2.4 The sustainability evaluation of resource
hollow-fibre membranes have been manufactured recovery technologies
using different materials and were able to produce
power densities of more than 5 W/m2 when different This section provides an overview of environmental
feed and brine streams were used (Kim et al. 2015). impacts of different techniques (RO, evaporation
Kim et al. (2015) proposed that a hybrid RO-PRO ponds, ED and adsorption) used for resource recovery
system is a feasible solution compared to a stand-alone from seawater desalination concentrate and their
PRO system as a stand-alone PRO system could not challenges. Each technique differs in mechanisms,
produce higher power densities. It is reported that the fields of application, benefits, and limitations. As a
energy consumption can be reduced by approximately typical pressure-driven technology, RO has been
70% when SWRO equipped with PX and PRO widely applied in softening and concentration. The
processes (Wan and Chung 2016). Yip and Elimelech process is significant because it can recover both water
(2012) achieved an energy recovery rate of 91.1% in a and mineral resources by minimizing the volume of
constant-pressure PRO system with seawater as draw desalination concentrate. However, this is not a stand-
solution and river water as feed solution. Development alone process to recover minerals from brines as it
needs additional processes such as MCr. Additionally,

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 341

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of one RED stack

intensive pre-treatment including pH adjustment and important in determining the rate of recovery of
softening are required to avoid membrane fouling. minerals from sorbents (Naidu et al. 2016). Acidic and
Evaporation pond is an attractive technology to extract alkaline solutions would be used during desorption,
minerals independently as it relies only on direct solar which is not environmentally friendly. Reverse elec-
energy to evaporate the water. Nevertheless, the risk of trodialysis is one of the most important technologies to
underlying soil and groundwater pollution by this harvest salinity gradient energy. Generation of elec-
method cannot be ignored (Roychoudhury and tricity using brines is economically more feasible
Petersen 2014). The low conversion rate of solar compared to utilizing seawater to do so. It was
energy to thermal energy makes this process slow and reported that the energy harnessed from SWRO
inefficient. In contrast to above technologies, electro- concentrate streams by RED could enhance the
dialysis is reliable to recover the ions by applying environmental performance of the desalination indus-
an electrical field. On one hand, ED is very promising try by recovering approximately 26% of the SWRO
as a preconcentration process prior to an evaporation energy consumption (Tristán et al. 2020). Although
process such as multi-effect distillation or mechanical extraction of resources from desalination brine is
vapor recompression. In addition, it also has the technically possible, more detailed studies should be
characteristics of selective recovery of specific ele- performed to minimize the potential risk of the
ments, especially for the valuable metals found in low resource recovery technologies on environmental
concentration in brines, which is gaining more atten- ecology and human health.
tion. Furthermore, when resources are recovered using
adsorbents, desorption of the absorbed metals is

123
342 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

3 Minerals recovery ions from desalination brine could be profitable (Shah-

mansouri et al. 2015). The literature regarding the
Seawater constitutes a rich source of various com- mining of these minerals and their feasibility will be
mercially important chemical elements, as shown in discussed in the following sections of this paper.
Table 4. Generally, components of desalination con- Mixed salt streams such as a mixture of NaCl and
centrates can be divided into a) major components, Na2SO4 are usually obtained from conventional
such as chloride (Cl-), sodium (Na?), sulphate (SO42-), desalination processes. In order to meet the require-
magnesium (Mg2?), calcium (Ca2?), potassium (K?) ment of salt use, selective separation of mono- and
and b) minor components, defined as those that can be multi-valent ions has important application in water
found in concentrations below 1.0 mg/L, such as reuse, desalination and salt production. Generally,
lithium (Li?), rubidium (Rb), boron (B), strontium there are two ways to fractionate the bivalent salt and
(Sr), indium (In), barium (Ba), nickel (Ni), uranium monovalent salt: selectrodialysis (SED) and nanofil-
(U), caesium (Cs), and germanium (Ge). The six most tration (NF) process. The performance of ion frac-
abundant ions of seawater in decreasing order are tionation depends on the permselectivity of
chloride (Cl-)[sodium (Na?)[sulphate (SO42-)[ nanofiltration membrane and monovalent ion
magnesium (Mg2?) [ calcium (Ca2?) [ potassium exchange membrane. Therefore, the development of
(K?). The concentrations of minerals in the brine are monovalent ion exchange membrane is crucial to the
usually as twice as that in the seawater which favours recovery of minerals.
their crystallisation before or after adsorption for NF is a pressure driven membrane process with
further concentration. Nowadays, considerations on a molecular weight cut off around 200–1000 Da and
technology, energy consumption and costs as well as around 20–80% of monovalent ions permeate through
market fluctuations of the minerals extracted are of the membrane due to the pressure gradient whereas the
significance to evaluate the feasibility of mineral rejection to divalent ions which have the same charge
recovery from seawater or desalination concentrate. of the membrane can reach up to 95% (Schaep et al.
Although the feasibility of the extraction of min- 2001). Zhang et al. (2017) also tested the selectivity of
erals from seawater and desalination brines has been NF membrane with a retention of Ca2? [98%, SO42-
controversial throughout these years, studies have [ 85%. Generally, ionic fractionation is found to be
shown that the extraction of commodities of certain governed by the special properties of the ions,

Table 4 Total molar composition of seawater and brine

Seawater (mg/L) (Anthoni 2006) Brine* (mg/L) (Ortiz-Albo et al. 2019)
-
Cl 19,345 41,829
?
Na 10,752 25,237
Major component SO42- 2701 6050
Mg2? 1295 2867
Ca2? 416 960
K? 390 781
?
Li 0.17 * 0.27
Sr 8.1 * 14.5
Minor component Rb 0.12 * 0.19
Cs 0.0003 * 0.0008
Br 67.3 * 120
B 4.45 * 4.45
*The seawater source was from Atlantic Ocean. The composition of desalination concentrates is directly related to the feedwater
quality, desalination and pre-treatment technologies used and the recovery of the employed RO

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 343

dielectric exclusion and steric hindrance (Li et al. Sodium hydroxide is widely used to increase pH in
2019b). Additionally, it is important to develop highly pre-treatment of seawater feed and other industries. It
monovalent anion-selective membranes (MASM) was proved that waste brine from desalination can be
having stable structure for a wide range of applica- used to create sodium hydroxide using membrane
tions. To realize the efficient monovalent/bivalent chlor-alkali electrolysis (Du et al. 2018). However,
anion separation, Liao et al (2020) prepared MASM appropriate concentration and purification pre-treat-
membranes by blending amino-containing poly (ary- ment steps are highly needed due to the existence of
lene ether sulfone) (PAES-NH2) with 15 wt% of impurities. In addition, bipolar membrane electrodial-
sulfonated polysulfone (SPSf), followed by grafting ysis (BMED) is also an important technology for the
imidazolium salt-terminated side alkyl chains on conversion of RO brines into acid and base products
PAES backbone. It performed superior perm-selectiv- (Ibáñez et al. 2013; Kumar et al. 2019). Chen et al.
ity (Cl–/ SO42-) of 21.8 in the ED process at a current (2018) proposed a new method to integrate ion
density of 2.5 mA/cm2, which is contributed by fractionation with BMED to treat mixed concentrated
electrostatic repulsion difference from the negatively- brine, in which HCl and NaOH solutions with
charged sulfonate groups against monovalent Cl– ions concentrations of approximately 2 mol/L were pro-
and bivalent SO42– ions and hydrated energy duced. The schematic diagram of BMED is shown in
difference. Fig. 4.
As one of the mainly used raw materials in a wide
3.1 Sodium recovery range of industries such as paper, glass and detergents,
sodium sulphate (Na2SO4) has seen an increase in
Sodium compounds including sodium chloride and industrial demands in recent years (Quist-Jensen et al.
sodium sulphate are widely used in multiple industries 2017). Conventional extraction of Na2SO4 is through
such as food, glass, detergent, textiles, chemical and saline lake brine or mining processes, while the
construction (Loganathan et al. 2017). Numerous recovery of Na2SO4 from industrial wastewater has
researchers have proposed producing sodium com- gained more attention due to its significantly high
pounds from desalination concentrate although in concentration. Studies on the Na2SO4 recovery from
most cases salt production was never evaluated on an various sources using different approaches have been
appreciable scale. Literature available on the produc- widely reported. A laboratory scale fractional sub-
tion of sodium carbonate and sodium sulphate from merged membrane distillation crystallizer (F-SMDC)
desalination brines are scarce. Both compounds can be was used to recover Na2SO4 from SWRO brine. Total
produced from concentrated sodium chloride solu- water recovery ratio of 72% and 223.73 g Na2SO4
tions. However, these methods are not commonly used crystals were successfully extracted from 6 litres of
for highly concentrated brines, while mined minerals simulated SWRO brine using F-SMDC (Choi et al.
are more common. 2020). The production of Na2SO4 crystals and high
Sodium chloride is the principal component of salt quality of water from concentrated wastewater (2 M
in seawater, which is widely used. In 2019, 293 million Na2SO4) has also been reported when utilizing MCr
tonnes of NaCl were produced worldwide (Global salt processes, which achieved 80% of water recovery and
production 2019). In addition to being served as 100 kg/m3 of Na2SO4 crystals (Bouchrit et al. 2017).
table salt, 60% of sodium chloride is used for Additionally, a novel crystallization, eutectic freeze
industrial activities. Sodium sulphate is produced crystallization (EFC), which simultaneously crystal-
mainly from land ores by conventional crystallization, lizes both pure salt and ice from aqueous solutions at
in which sources are fast being exhausted and new the eutectic composition was introduced to produce
processes should be found. Seawater brine and bittern Na2SO410H2O crystals. A total recovery of over 90%
produced as by-products, which contain about 6% by pure Na2SO4 crystals was obtained along with less
weight of sodium sulphate. The recovery of high than 20 ppm impurities of freshwater production.
purity sodium sulphate from seawater bittern was However, this method can only suit when NaCl
above 94% when methanol was used to depress the concentration is lower than the Na2SO4 due to the
solubility of certain inorganic salts (Fernandez- ion effect (Reddy et al. 2010). In summary, the
Lozano 1996). crystallization is still the principal technique for the

123
344 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

recovery of sodium, while the ED-based technologies 2019). Apart from precipitation, NF membrane has
start to gain more attention in the recent years. also been utilized for the lithium recovery from high
Mg/Li ratio brine. Li et al. (2019a, b) conducted an
3.2 Lithium recovery investigation on the performance of a DK membrane,
which achieved a rejection of 92% of magnesium and
Lithium is addressed as ‘‘energy-critical element’’ as it a recovery of 99% of lithium. Wang et al. developed a
is the most important component of rechargeable process to separate and recover Li2CO3 utilizing the
batteries (Choubey et al. 2016). Other than its production of MgAlCO3-LDHs by double-drop
applications in energy area, lithium is also widely method from brine, which achieves more than 91%
used in numerous fields such as alloys and pharma- removal of lithium carbonate with a purity of 99.7%
ceuticals and therefore, the global demand for lithium (Wang et al. 2018). A novel lithium recovery system
has been rapidly increasing in recent years (Schafer reported that utilizing a k-MnO2-Ag rechargeable
1998; Muroga 2005; Kesler et al. 2012). battery can significantly recover lithium from brine
Currently, the main supplements of natural lithium with the presence of magnesium ions, which has an
are from the spodumene mineral which contains efficiency of 1.0 Wh per 1 mole of lithium (Lee et al.
LiAlSi2O6 and the brine of the salt lakes which 2013).
usually has a high Mg/Li ratio (Wang 1999). Thus, Although the concentration of lithium in seawater is
approaches that can effectively recover lithium from relatively low (0.1 to 0.2 ppm), the overall content in
high Mg/Li ratio brine have been widely studied. A seawater is estimated at 2.6 9 1011 tonnes (Mero
novel magnesium precipitation was investigated to 1965). After the RO desalination processes, the
separate lithium from high mass ratio of Mg/Li brine lithium becomes more concentrated, which makes it
using sodium metasilicate nonahydrate as precipitant. feasible to be recovered. The focus of lithium
The results show that 86.73% of Li? was recovered production starts to shift towards seawater and its
with 99.94% of Mg2? removal rate (Zhang et al. desalination brine recently and the studies for this

Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of a BMED stack

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 345

purpose have emerged rapidly (Arroyo et al. 2019). the fast development of membrane technologies. A
The processes of lithium recovery from seawater membrane adsorbent system which integrates poly-
resources can be divided into four categories: precip- meric membranes with ion exchange adsorbent has
itation, ion exchange and sorption, liquid-liquid been widely studied for the recovery of lithium.
extraction and membrane process. Compared to the conventional adsorption processes, a
One of the most conventional processes is by membrane-type adsorbent has merits of smaller loss of
precipitation. The main challenge is from the presence head and easy construction of adsorption module by
of other metal ions which should be removed first. simply stacking or coiling membranes (Umeno et al.
NaOH addition is usually required to precipitate Ca2?, 2002). Park et al. (2015) developed a flow-through
Mg2? and Mn2? ions, followed by carbonation of membrane Li? absorber which consists of a polysul-
Li2CO3 utilizing Na2CO3 and finally neutralized by fone (PSF)-based mixed matrix nanofiber (MMN) and
HCl. The result shows that a high purity of above 99% lithium ion sieves (LIS). The mechanism of this
of Li2CO3 could be obtained after evaporation of the process is based on the dimensional property of
solution (Um and Hirato 2014). microporous MMN promoted high LIS exposure and
Another conventionally used process is ion distribution on the nanofiber surface, which results in
exchange and sorption which has been used for the improvement of minimal losses in Li? adsorption
decades by industries. Organic or inorganic ion capacity and Li? selectivity. Manganese oxide parti-
exchange materials such as TiSbA are introduced for cles served as inorganic ion exchange adsorbent in a
lithium extraction after evaporation and crystallization polymeric membrane reservoir system has been
of NaCl, CaSO4 and KCl (Abe and Chitrakar 1987). In reported (Chung et al. 2017). The results demonstrated
addition, lithium recovery from seawater sources by that due to the high selectivity of manganese oxide
sorption/desorption methods has been reported repeat- particles toward lithium adsorption, the application
edly. The sorption processes have advantages of easy can be directly applied for the seawater sources
operation and high efficiency, however, high concen- without any pressurized flow system. Apart from the
trations of sodium and magnesium ions existing in membrane adsorbent process, electrodialysis has also
seawater significantly hinder the production of the been used for high selective lithium recovery from
lithium. Therefore, the choice of adsorbents has brine. For example, liquid-membrane which contains
become the most critical consideration for the process. Li? carrier was proven effective toward the recovery
Adsorbents such as k-MnO2, MnO2, Al(OH)3 layer, of Li? (Liu et al. 2020).The ED process has merits of
HMnO, H1.6Mn1.6O4, etc. have been proven to be high energy efficiency and selectivity when integrat-
effective in lithium recovery (Takeuchi 1980; Chi- ing with a lithium ionic superconductor membrane and
trakar et al. 2001; Nishihama et al. 2011; Park et al. is considered suitable for industrialized mass produc-
2015). tion of lithium (Hoshino 2015). In addition, membrane
Liquid-liquid (solvent) extraction has been consid- crystallization (MCr) techniques have been carried out
ered as a potential recovery process for lithium to recover LiCl from aqueous solutions. Compared to
recovery from seawater due to its low cost and other membrane processes, MCr requires a supersat-
notable amount of production (Wang et al. 2009). It urated condition for LiCl crystallization, which could
has been reported that with the utilization of cyclo- be challenging for the treatment. However, MCr has
hexane and tri-octyloxyphosphine as extractants, the advantage over other processes as it can produce
lithium was successfully precipitated with a purity of high purity lithium and clean water simultaneously.
over 95% (Kitamura and Wada 1978; Yanagase et al. This can contribute to an integrated membrane desali-
1983). Another research was conducted using kero- nation system and provide an alternative to achieve
sene as solvent to recover lithium from seawater, zero liquid discharge in the future (Quist-Jensen et al.
which found that 65% of lithium ions can be effec- 2016b). Thus, the dominant techniques for lithium
tively extracted by thenoyltrifluoroacetone-tri- recovery in the industries are precipitation and ion
octylphosphine oxide (TTA-TOPO) in kerosene exchange. Novel technologies such as ED and MCr
within 80 minutes (Harvianto et al. 2016). have also been introduced due to their merits of high
In recent years, recovery of lithium from seawater energy efficiency and high purity of lithium
has started to shift towards membrane processes with

123
346 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

Table 5 Magnesium recovery summary (methods, results, applications)

Product Applications Recovery methods Results References

Struvite Struvite Electrodialysis; Higher concentration of Mg2? in the Liu et al. (2013), Kim
Anaerobically digested product under a lower current density et al. (2016), Ye et al.
effluent of swine is feasible; Ca2? presence does not (2018), Ghyselbrecht
wastewater for struvite affect Mg2? fractionation; Higher et al. (2019)
crystallization Mg/Ca ratio results in higher struvite
purity
Mg(OH)2 Environmental Lime addition; Precipitation Purity usually below 80% with lime Gong et al. (2018), Sano
protection; Fire by the reaction of MgCO3 addition; 99% of Mg recovery in form et al. (2018),
retardant; with ammonium hydroxide; of Mg(OH)2 with precipitation; 99% Mohammad et al.
Pharmaceutical Deaeration of purity was achieved with (2019)
field deaeration
MgSO4 MgSO47H2O Precipitation 93% of purity was achieved in the form Na and Kim (2019),
production; of MgSO47H2O; over 90% of purity Cho and Kim (2019)
MgSO46H2O was achieved in the form of
production MgSO46H2O
MgO Refractory; Alkali addition; MgO Recovery of MgO can be achieved Barba et al. (1980). Tran
Construction; production via Mg oxalate through precipitation and calcination et al. (2013), Dong
Chemical; of Mg(OH)2, 99.5% purity of Mg et al. (2018)
Agriculture oxalate with oxalic acid addition.
Overall operational cost of
desalination can be greatly reduced
even only MgO is produced

production. However, more studies are required in the a lower current density is feasible, which provides a
future for the feasibility of industrial integration. promising technology for Mg2? recovery from sea-
water. In addition, further investigation on the influ-
3.3 Magnesium recovery ence of Ca2? co-existence reveals that the variation of
Ca2? concentrations in seawater did not influence
Magnesium is the third most abundant element Mg2? fractionation; however, it might reduce struvite
dissolved in seawater after sodium and chloride. The recovery efficiency by forming calcium phosphate (Ye
desalination brine stream contains high concentration et al. 2018). Furthermore, high salinity desalination
of magnesium up to 2.51 kg/m3, which could be brine also has been considered as low-cost magnesium
utilized as source for valuable magnesium products source for the precipitation of induced struvite crystals
and has potential to generate economic, social and obtained from hydrolysed urine and higher Mg/Ca
environmental benefits such as wastewater treatment, ratio in the feed water results in higher struvite purity
fire retardant, construction and chemical, etc. Table 5 during production (Liu et al. 2013). Other approaches
shows the methods used for magnesium recovery from such as using anaerobically digested effluent of swine
seawater and their outcomes along with the applica- wastewater for struvite crystallization when seawater
tions of the products. desalination concentrate was included as magnesium
One of the potential applications is to recover sources have also been reported (Kim et al. 2016).
magnesium from seawater for phosphate and ammo- As one of the most valuable magnesium products,
nium recovery as struvite from wastewater (Liu et al. Mg(OH)2 has been widely used in medication and
2013), which can be achieved through electrodialysis. water/wastewater treatment as well as fire retardant.
Ghyselbrecht, et al. (2019) developed a novel cationic Generally, the commercial grade Mg(OH)2 has a
selectrodialysis (cSED) which uses a conventional ED purity of above 95% (Gong et al. 2018). The conven-
stack that is equipped with monovalent selective tional method of Mg(OH)2 recovery from seawater
cation-exchange membranes. The results demonstrate brine is through the addition of lime, however, one of
that a higher Mg2? concentration in the product under the major problems of this method is a relatively low

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 347

product purity of below 80% (Gong et al. 2018). An increased. With the addition of an alkali source
optimized response surface methodology was intro- (NaOH, NH4OH), the recovery of MgO from desali-
duced for the recovery of magnesium from desalina- nation reject brine can be achieved through the
tion brine based on the precipitation of Mg(OH)2 by precipitation and further calcination of Mg(OH)2
the reaction of MgCO3 with ammonium hydroxide. A (Dong et al. 2018). Tran et al. (2013) recovered Mg
software was designed for the thermodynamic analysis oxalate with a purity of 99.5% from Uyuni salar brine
for the reaction of MgCO3 with ammonium hydroxide, via the use of oxalic acid. They found that calcium
which finds that 99% recovery of magnesium at a could be removed from brine without co-precipitation
temperature at 15 °C, brine salinity of 85 g/L and NH3 of Mg oxalate when pH is less than 1, which also
: Mg molar ratio of 4.4 : 1 (Mohammad et al. 2019). provides a suitable method to produce MgO. The
The magnesium hydroxide could also be recovered by economic analysis of MgO recovery from seawater/
utilizing the water electrolysis reaction. With the brine has also been conducted, which shows that
integration of deaeration process, 99% of purity could overall operational cost of desalination can be signif-
be achieved since the deaeration can remove the icantly reduced even when considering only the MgO
carbon dioxide from seawater to prevent the formation production (Barba et al. 1980).
of calcium carbonate (Sano et al. 2018). In conclusion, the most used technique for magne-
Magnesium sulphate recovery from desalination sium recovery from desalination brine is still the
brine has been studied frequently in recent years due to precipitation via alkali addition. However, in order to
its high economic value. Na and Kim (2019) devel- achieve ZLD and reduce the environmental issues
oped a novel three-step precipitation process using such as secondary pollution and sludge disposal, novel
paper sludge ash, sulfuric acid and ethanol, which technologies such as crystallization and ED have also
achieved 93% of purity in the form of MgSO47H2O been proven to have high efficiency towards the
with only Ca as impurity. Because the alkali industrial magnesium recovery.
by-products were used instead of the existing expen-
sive alkali precipitants, also ethanol and H2SO4 could
be recovered in the process, this technology is more 4 Calcium recovery
economical than conventional precipitation process.
Cho and Kim (2019) developed a three-stage process Among all the ions existing in desalination brine,
to recover MgSO46H2O using alkaline industrial calcium based crystals usually first precipitate in the
waste, sulfuric acid and organic solvents from seawa- form of calcium sulphate (CaSO4) and calcium
ter. The results show that over 90% of magnesium was carbonate (CaCO3) due to the low solubility of these
recovered and approximately 11.3 kg of MgSO46H2O two crystals in the water (Naidu et al. 2014). Thus,
can be synthesized per ton of seawater. This study calcium based crystals contribute mostly to the
provides a feasible method for MgSO4 recovery from membrane scaling and are usually the first minerals
desalination brine where magnesium concentration is to be recovered (Morillo et al. 2014). Despite that the
much higher than that in the seawater. mechanisms of calcium precipitation have gained
Magnesium oxide (MgO) has been widely used by more attention, the extraction of calcium products has
numerous industries such as refractory, construction, not been significantly studied due to low price of
chemical and agriculture (Lee et al. 2004; Shand 2006; commercial grade gypsum (Shahmansouri et al. 2015).
Mo et al. 2014). The major source of MgO is by Crystallization is one of the most feasible approaches
processing of natural magnesium minerals obtained for calcium recovery from brine. The crystallization
mainly from land-based mining and about 14% of tendency of calcium is determined by different factors
global MgO production is carried out by calcining such as chemical factors (temperature, pH, NaCl
Mg(OH)2 recovered from seawater or magnesium-rich concentration and chemical agents), organic matters
brine. The purity of MgO obtained from seawater/ (alginate, humic acid and bovine serum albumin) and
brine is even higher than those produced from natural physical factors (agitation). These factors can signif-
magnesium sources (Jin and Al-Tabbaa 2014). Thus, icantly affect the crystal size and purity in MD-
studies on the recovery of MgO from seawater or crystallizer (Choi et al. 2018). Other crystallization
magnesium-rich brine source have gradually techniques such as fluidized bed crystallizers have also

123
348 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

been investigated for the production of CaCO3 pellets (0.08 9 106 tonnes), while the low concentration
(Shih et al. 2013). Apart from the crystallization, present in seawater makes the extraction of Rb
Goldman (2012) successfully precipitated CaSO4 with difficult (Survey 2009; Choi et al. 2019). Among the
a relatively high purity when utilizing ion-exchange recovery methods of Rb from seawater resources, the
by controlling the pH of the mixture of anion and dominant technologies are adsorption methods due to
cation regeneration solution. their outstanding selective performance on specific
element. However, the presence of potassium ions in
4.1 Recovery of other minerals the seawater could significantly reduce the efficiency
of Rb extraction. Thus, the potassium-based adsorbent
4.1.1 Uranium recovery (KCuFC) has been developed to eliminate the K? and
improve the Rb sorption efficiency (Naidu et al. 2016).
In recent years, the global demand for nuclear power After integrating MD which aims to enable a longer
has gradually increased, which results in the explo- residence time for Rb sorption into KCuFC, the
ration of new nuclear fuel sources to ensure the integrated MD-KCuFC system achieved 2.26 mg of
sustainability of nuclear power. It is estimated that the Rb recovery from 12 litres of SWRO brine with an
production costs of uranium extracted from seawater additional 65% of water recovery (Naidu et al. 2017).
varies from $ 660/kg to $ 1232/kg (Scheme et al.
2016). Therefore, the feasibility of uranium recovery 4.1.3 Cesium recovery
from seawater source has been investigated. Despite
the low concentration of uranium in seawater (*3.3 Cesium has a wide range of industrial uses such as
lg/L), the total amount by mass in seawater exceeds infrared filter, radiant energy receiver and light
over 1000 times than it is in all land mines combined refraction regulator (Chen et al. 2020). Nowadays,
(Rao 2010; Wiechert et al. 2018). Petersková et al. the interests of cesium recovery from aqueous solu-
(2012) investigated the extraction of uranium from tions mainly focus on the development of sorbents/
seawater brine mainly via adsorption using three exchangers due to its high purity products. An organic
resins (S957 containing phosphonic and sulphonic ion exchanger K2CoFe(CN)6 was initially developed
groups, S910 containing amidoxime groups and S940 for the purification of high salt evaporator concen-
containing amino phosphonic groups) and found that trates at a nuclear power plant and was found to be
S957 has the best performance with 22.78 mg/g effective for trapping Cs, which can be further
recovery rate due to high affinity of the phosphonic integrated for the extraction of Cs from aqueous
and sulphonic acidic groups towards uranium. Despite solutions (Gibert et al. 2010). In addition, the utiliza-
several studies have been conducted on uranium tion of the 4-tert-butyl-2-(a-methylbenzy) phenol (t-
recovery from seawater, the extraction from desalina- BAMBP) and ammonia was investigated for the
tion brine which contains much higher uranium cesium recovery from the desalination brine. The
concentration has not gained sufficient attention. The results indicate that when t-BAMBP was used as
main cause of less interest in uranium recovery from extractant to separate cesium, and ammonium car-
desalination brine is due to the relatively high cost of bonate as stripping agents, a purity of 98.9% of cesium
extraction processes. Therefore, the future studies carbonate was successfully produced (Chen et al.
should focus on the development of low-cost, long- 2020). The recovery of cesium from multiple
term and commercially available materials for ura- resources has been widely studied and aforementioned
nium recovery from high salinity brine. research on cesium recovery from seawater brine can
provide an alternative for the cesium production.
4.1.2 Rubidium recovery Table 6 summarises the techniques employed and their
performances in recovering U, Rb and Cs.
Rubidium has a high economic value in several fields
such as laser, atomic clocks and photocells with a
market price at $ 14,720/kg. Similar to most minerals,
the total content of Rb in seawater (156,000 9 106
tonnes) is much higher than inland mineral reserves

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 349

Table 6 Summary of other minerals recovery techniques and performance

Target mineral Techniques Performance References

U Adsorption A recovery rate of 22.8 mg/g has been achieved Petersková et al. (2012)
Rb Adsorption-MD 2.26 mg of Rb recovered from 12 L of SWRO brine Naidu et al. (2017)
Cs t-BAMBP 98.9% purity of cesium carbonate Chen et al. (2020)

5 Economic Evaluation installation charges), operational cost (energy costs,

amortization charges, etc.) and maintenance costs
The economic evaluation of resource recovery from (membrane replacement cost). The analyses are only
seawater desalination brine depends on the revenues for the desalination plant cases and the distribution is
of the products and the overall costs. The revenues not included, and the energy consumption of MD
mainly include the sales of minerals and freshwater, system is considered when a low-grade heat source is
along with the energy recovered in some processes, available.
while the costs usually consist of operational and The cost of a new desalination plant is related to the
maintenance costs (Loganathan et al. 2017). However, plant capacity and it can be calculated by the cost of a
it is difficult to quantify the evaluation of a specific similar plant that has already in operation. The
method or product because the sales revenues, overall calculation is demonstrated in Eq. 2 (Wittholz et al.
costs, tax rates and policies vary significantly across 2008):
the world. It is possible to compare the feasibility of    
capital cost plant 1 plant capacity 1 m
different approaches based on the target resources ¼ ð2Þ
recovered, financial advantages and disadvantages as capital cost plant 2 plant capacity 2
well as some of the products of main minerals and their where m is the value of exponent and for desalination
market prices/costs, which are summarised in Tables 7 plant, the exponent is usually assumed to be 0.8. This
and 8 below. equation can be modified to:
The cost analyses consist of three main categories
which are capital cost (cost of equipment, land and

Table 7 Economic comparison of different approaches

Target resources Advantages Disadvantages

Membrane Fresh water; minerals available in Additional freshwater production; Higher energy cost due to external
distillation high concentrations in the brines less brine disposal; higher crystal heat required; relatively low
crystallisation (NaCl, MgSO47H2O, CaCO3, quality production capacity; additional
LiCl (salt lakes) etc.) maintenance cost of possible scale
formation
Solar High concentration minerals Cheap construction cost; cheap High land costs; additional treatment
evaporation (NaCl) operation and maintenance cost cost may be required due to possible
contamination of ground water
Electrodialysis Fresh water; high concentration Electrical energy as the only energy Additional cost of pre-treatments is
minerals (NaCl, Br2, Mg(OH)2, operational cost; high minerals required; maintenance cost of ion-
CaSO4, etc.); energy (RED) purity; energy can be recovered membrane could be significant
through RED process
Adsorption Most minerals Relatively lower operational costs Lower revenue than other processes;
than other processes only profitable for high value
minerals

123
350 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

Table 8 Products of main minerals and their market price/costs

Products Market price/costs References

Magnesium products Magnesia (MgO) $ 540/ton Shahmansouri et al. (2015) and Quist-Jensen et al. (2016c)
Mg(OH)2 $ 265/ton
Struvite $ 420 to 470/ton
Sodium products NaOH $ 500/ton Fountain and Kamalick (2012)
NaCl (MED) $ 98/ton at 6% interest rate
Lithium products Li $ 139/kg Gilau and Failler (2020)
Uranium U $ 47/kg Gilau and Failler (2020)
Rubidium Rb $ 14,720/kg Survey (2009)

ln ðCapital cost of a plantÞ ¼ m ln ðplant capacityÞ where r is a given discount rate and n is a series of
þ constant future payments over a defined period of time. When
ð3Þ this is applied to the five SWRO plants in Australia,
assuming a discount rate of 8% and the number of
Table 9 shows five large SWRO plants currently
annual payments to be 20, 30 and 50 (corresponding
being in operation in different states of Australia.
CRF are 0.101852, 0.088827 and 0.08173). The
Their completion dates vary from 2006 to 2012 and the
normalised capital costs vary from AUD$ 0.88 to
capacities range from 45 to 150 GL/yr. By converting
AUD$ 2.49/m3 for 20 annual payments; similarly, the
their investment cost to year 2020, the following
normalised capital cost ranges for 30 and 50 annual
relationship between the investment cost and the
payments are AUD$ 0.76 to AUD$ 2.18/m3 and
capacity can be derived:
AUD$ 0.70 to AUD$ 2.00/m3, respectively (Table 9).
ln ðInvestment Cost; The energy used for desalination is either thermal
 in AUD$Þ 
GL energy or electrical energy, while thermal energy is
¼ 1:3296  ln SWRO plant capacity in
yr usually cheaper than electrical energy since it typically
þ 15:472 utilizes low grade waste heat from other thermal
processes (Al-Obaidani et al. 2008). Both energy cost
 
R2 ¼ 0:80 ð4Þ can be determined by Eq. 5:
   
It can be seen that the exponent m (= 1.3296) is $ $
Energy cost 3 ¼ Cost of energy
more than one indicating the effect of inflation on the m kWh
  ð7Þ
investment cost. kWh
 Specific energy consumption
The annual cost is estimated by multiplying the m3
total capital cost of treatment and conveyance by
appropriate capital recovery factor (CRF), which is The specific energy consumption varies from 3.48
determined by the following equations: to 5.3 kWh/m3 in the five Australian SWRO plants. An
  energy study (Economics 2011) conducted for Sydney
rð1 þ rÞn SWRO plant states that the long run marginal cost
CRF ¼ ð5Þ
ð1 þ rÞn 1 (LRMC) without a carbon price to start out slightly

 above AUD$ 40/MWh in 2012/13 and to increase over
$ the period to 2029/30 to slightly above AUD$
Normalised capital cost 3
hm i 50/MWh. In the case with a carbon price, the LRMC
CRF  Capital cost y$ starts out at around AUD$ 60/MWh in 2012/13 and
¼ h 3i ð6Þ increases over the period to 2029/30 to slightly above
Plant capacity my AUD$ 90/MWh. In Table 10, it is assumed that the
current energy cost to be AUD$ 45/MWh without a

123
 Table 9 Summary of five large desalination plants currently operating in Australia
Desalination Capacity Completion Investment1 Present Normalised Power Energy SEC Specific Specific Total cost
Plant Date Value2 Investment Cost ($/ Energy operating
m3)
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

MLD1 GL/ AUD$ M1 AUD$ M 20 yr* 30 yr 50 yr MW GWh/ kWh/ Cost, Cost, AUD$/m3 AUD$/m3
yr1 yr m3 AUD$/m3 (20 yr*)

Kwinana, 123.288 45 2006 387 526.75 0.88 0.76 0.7 26 185 4.1 0.42—0.70 0.955—1.591 1.835—2.471
WA
Adelaide, SA 273.973 100 2012 1830 2,118.44 1.86 1.63 1.5 40 348 3.48 0.79—1.32 1.795—3.000 3.655—4.860
Wonthaggi, 410.959 150 2012 3500 4,051.66 2.38 2.07 1.91 90 788 5.3 1.79—2.99 4.068—6.795 6.448—9.175
VIC (4.327**)
Kurnell, 246.575 90 2010 1890 2,299.46 2.14 1.87 1.72 43 378 4.2 0.76—1.43 1.727—3.250 3.867—5.390
NSW
Gold Coast, 134.247 49 2009 1200 1,502.18 2.49 2.18 2 20 175 3.6 0.40—0.66 0.909—1.500 3.399—3.990
QLD
All the costings are in AUD$; 1—http://www.awa.asn.au/AWA_MBRR/Publications/Fact_Sheets/Desalination_Fact_Sheet.aspx2—https://www.in2013dollars.com/Australia-
inflation
*Number of annual payments, n
**Obtained from El Saliby et al. (2009)
351

123
352 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

carbon price and AUD$ 75/MWh with a carbon

Further study needed for salt

Further study needed for salt

price for all the SWRO plants in order to obtain

Salt recovery is highly

Salt recovery is highly

Salt recovery is highly

some ballpark values for the production cost. The
specific energy costs with and without a carbon
price were computed for all the plants as shown in
beneficial Table 10.

beneficial

beneficial
recovery

recovery
Remarks

The maintenance cost analyse only consists of the

membrane replacement cost since other costs such as
disposal cost, labour cost and pre-treatment cost vary
significantly from region to region. The membrane
cost is defined by Equation 6:
AUD$/yr
Original

Million
OPEX

  
$ $
293

180

610 ¼
43

45

Membrane cost Membrane price

m3 m2
h i
 
Net OPEX**

1 1000 ml 2
 Replacement rate  h i h i
AUD$/yr

- 107.7

y Membrane flux ml2 h  8760 hy

Million

- 33.0

398.5

704.0

*Considered as three times the specific operating costs of the SWRO plants with carbon pricing, as given in Table 10
24.3

ð8Þ
New OPEX*

Thus, for simplicity, the specific energy cost was

AUD$/yr

assumed to be 44% of the total operating cost to

Million

1830.6
128.9

133.6

877.5

538.5

compute the total operating cost. Then the total

operating cost was added to the normalised capital
cost computed for 20 annual payments at 8% discount
rate. Table 10 shows the unit cost of desalinated water
water production

**Net OPEX = New OPEX—Sales of salts—Revenue from additional water production

produced from the five desalination plants in Aus-

Revenue from

tralia. When AUD$ 45/MWh was used as energy cost,

(AUD$/yr)
additional

the unit cost of water varied from AUD$ 1.835/m3 to

Table 10 The specific energy cost of five large desalination plants in Australia

141.2

295.1

309.9

820.2

AUD$ 6.448/m3. According to an AWA site (Desali-

70.0

nation Fact Sheet) for large-scale municipal seawater

Sales of salts

desalination projects in Australia, the approximate

range of desalination cost is AUD$ 1 to AUD$ 4/m3.
current water recovery is considered as 50% in all SWRO plants
AUD$/yr
Million

According to the calculations shown in Table 9, four

100.1

183.8

204.3

306.4
91.9

out of five plants are able to produce desalinated water

for less than AUD$ 4/m3, when AUD$ 45/MWh was
used as energy cost. Collecting accurate data to
production

compute operating costs is essential in order to find

Water

GL/yr

the means to reduce them.

166

185

277
83

91

Macedonio et al. (2007) have provided valuable

information on salt recovery from SWRO. According
production
106 kg/yr

to their study, when a SWRO system comprising of

1755

1911

3510

3900

5850
Salt

MF/NF/RO is converted to MF/NF(MCr)/RO(MCr), it

can produce salts which can generate sales that could
exceed the operating costs of the converted system
GL/yr
flow?
Feed

while increasing the water recovery from 49.2 to

180

200

300
90

98

94.2%. They have estimated that 1 m3 of feed flow to

Adelaide, SA

the system can produce 19.5 kg of salts. For example, a

Gold Coast,

Wonthaggi,

MF/NF(MCr)/RO(MCr) system treating 25,188 m3/d

Kwinana,

Kurnell,
NSW
QLD

of seawater will produce 23,274 m3/d of desalinated

VIC
WA

water and produce 491,166 kg/d of salts. The

?

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 353

operating cost of such a system was estimated to be $ 2/ m2–EUR 5/m2 to be competitive with other
5,593,000 (3-fold increase to the original system renewables.
comprising of MF/NF/RO). Without considering the A unique application of SWRO-PRO is demon-
sale of the salts, the cost of water produced will be $ strated in a case study which proposes combining three
0.73/m3. If a Pelton turbine is used as energy recovery PRO plants with two SWRO plants on the Red Sea–
device, the cost will reduce to $ 0.69/m3. If waste Dead Sea (RSDS) water conveyance project (Kha-
thermal energy is available in the plant or the stream sawneh et al. 2018). The Dead Sea, one of the saltiest
is already at the operating temperature of MCr, the water bodies in the world (total dissolved solids, TDS
cost would be $ 0.54/m3 (without Pelton turbine) of 342.2 g/L) is considered the lowest spot on earth
and $ 0.51/m3 (with Pelton turbine). If the salts were (400 m below sea level). Its water level has fallen from
sold at $ 0.052/kg, the revenue from the sales would 394 m below sea level in the 1960s to about 427 m
be US$ 9,389,000. When this is considered, the last below sea level at the end of 2014 due to excessive
two values of the water cost will change to -$ 0.49/ evaporation, consumption and diversion of the Jordan
m3 and -$ 0.68/m3, respectively. This means, a MF/ river which is the main inflow to the Dead sea. The
NF(MCr)/RO(MCr) running with a Pelton energy proposed RSDS project can bring the water level back
recovery system and has access to waste thermal to 410 m below sea level by 2070 which will otherwise
heat will generate $ 0.68 for every cubic meter of drop to around 470 m below sea level. The length of
water it produces which can then help to reduce the the water conveyor will be around 180 km. Figure 5
normalised capital cost. The operating cost can be shows the flow chart of the RSDS project. The PRO 1
further reduced if renewable energy is used for is proposed to build after SWRO of Red Sea, where the
operation which is becoming mandatory in many Red Sea water and SWRO brine can be used as feed
places. and draw solutions respectively; the PRO 2 will be
If the above salt recovery concept is applied to the built after SWRO of Dead Sea, where the treated water
five Australian SWRO, the following can be con- and SWRO brine were used as feed and draw solutions
cluded (Table 10): if Kwinana plant in WA and Gold respectively. While PRO 3 will be using water from
Coast plant in QLD upgrade their SWRO plants to the RSDS water conveyer and Dead Sea water as feed
recover salts, they will start to have negative operating and draw solutions respectively. The results showed
costs meaning they will generate money while that only PRO 3 is economically feasible with a 134.5
producing desalinated water. If the plant in Adelaide, MW capacity and a $ 0.056/kWh levelized cost of
SA follows that direction, it can reduce its OPEX by electricity. The power generated from PRO 3 can
seven-fold. However, according to current calcula- reduce the energy consumption of SWRO of Dead Sea
tions, Wonthaggi in VIC and Kurnell in NSW do not by 49.3% and accounts for about 24.7% of the power
gain any benefits from salt recovery. However, careful for the whole RSDS project.
calculations incorporating various aspects of those
individual plants are necessary to arrive at final
decisions. This is applicable to rest of the plants 6 Conclusion
considered in this discussion as well.
It is worthwhile comparing the above cost impli- The freshwater scarcity has become one of the most
cations with PRO and RED. Based on feasibility severe environmental issues in this century. In order to
studies, costs for 2020 were estimated in 2014 and address this issue, in recent years, seawater technolo-
found to be around $ 65–$ 125 per MW for PRO and gies such as RO has been developed widely. However,
$ 90/MW for RED (Ruud and Frank 2014). Levelized the seawater desalination brine which is the main by-
costs of electricity (including capital investment, product of RO processes has also brought great
maintenance and operation are estimated to be around concerns to the sustainability of local marine life. On
$ 0.15–$ 0.30 per kWh for PRO and $ 0.11–$ 0.20/ the other hand, since the desalination brine contains
kWh for RED. The main economic barrier is the useful resources such as freshwater, minerals and
membrane costs, which account for 50–80% of total potentially energy that can be recovered, the resource
capital costs. Their estimated price ranges from EUR recovery from seawater desalination brine has gained
10/ m2–EUR 30/ m2 and needs to be reduced to EUR increasing attention.

123
354 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

Fig. 5 Flow chart of the flow streams for the RSDS water Economic Feasibility Study of a Hypersaline Pressure-Retarded
conveyance project and three proposed PRO plants. ( Repro- Osmosis Power Plants: Dead Sea-Red Sea Conveyor; published
duced with permission from Khasawneh et al., Techno- by Energies, 2018.)

The resources recovery approaches can be divided adsorption). The water recovery can be achieved by
into three categories which target the three products. integrating numerous techniques and can be increased
The minerals recovery approaches consist of pressure- by 40% to 50% compared to the recovery in SWRO,
driven techniques (e.g. NF, RO), thermally driven while approaches such as PRO and RED can harvest
techniques (e.g. MED, MD/MCr), electrochemical the SGE from the brine and achieve energy recovery.
potential-driven techniques (e.g. ED, CDI) and In this study, the recovery of minerals has been
physico-chemical techniques (e.g. ion exchange, separated by the products of sodium (NaCl, NaOH,

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 355

Fig. 6 Integrated membrane desalination systems with MCr unit for minerals recovery. Adopted from Quist-Jensen et al. (2016a)

Na2SO4), lithium (LiCl, Li2CO3, etc.), magnesium The above assumptions are obtained from Quist-
(struvite, Mg(OH)2, MgSO4, MgO), calcium (CaSO4, Jensen et al. (2016a). Figure 7 demonstrated the mass
CaCO3) and other minerals (U, Rb, Cs). The recovery balance around NF and RO membrane systems.
methods, performance of each process and the product According to the mass balance equation,
quality have been listed in this study. Finally, an
Q1  C0 ¼ Q2  Cp þ ðQ1  Q2 Þ  Cc ð9Þ
economic comparison of different recovery
approaches and cost analysis of desalination plants 100  C0 ¼ Re  Cp þ ð100  Re Þ  Cc ð10Þ
have been conducted in order to provide a compre-
 
hensive analysis for future studies on the feasibility of C0  Cp Rj
resource recovery (water, minerals and energy). ¼ ð11Þ
C0 100
where, Q1, Q2 are the feed and permeate flow rates; C0,
Appendix Cp, Cc are the mineral concentration in the feed,
permeate and concentrate; Re is the water recovery
A simulation of minerals recovery rate of the membrane; Rj is the rejection of the mineral
from an integrated MCr unit by the membrane. After integrating Eqs. (9), (10) and
(11), the results of minerals concentration and mass in
A simulation of minerals recovery process from an various streams have been demonstrated in Table 1.
integrated MCr unit (Fig. 6) have been conducted. In  
Rj
the theoretical evaluation, the seawater intake capacity Cp ¼ C0  1  ð12Þ
100
is assumed as 100,000 m3 per day; the water recovery
of NF and RO membranes are assumed as 75.9% and 
R
100  C0  Re  C0  1  100j
52%, respectively; and the seawater composition and Cc ¼ ð13Þ
NF/RO ion rejection are estimated in Table 11 below. 100  Re

123
 356

123
Table 11 The composition and mass of minerals in various streams (rejections and the concentrations of minerals in seawater are from Quist-Jensen et al. (2016a))
Rejection (%) Concentration (ppm) Mass in various streams for 100,000 m3/d of feed flow rate (kg/d)
NF RO seawater NF reject NF permeate RO reject RO permeate Seawater NF Reject NF permeate RO reject RO permeate

Ba 87.7 99.6 0.021 0.079002 0.002583 0.00537 0.000010332 2.1 1.90395 0.1960497 0.19564 0.000407783
Cl 26.7 99.6 19,400 35,713.15 14,220.2 29,563.8 56.8808 1,940,000 860,686.8 1,079,313.18 1,077,068 2244.971414
Cs 87.7 99.6 0.0003 0.001129 0.0000369 0.0000767 0.0000001476 0.03 0.027199 0.00280071 0.00279 0.00000582548
Cu 87.7 99.6 0.0009 0.003386 0.0001107 0.00023 0.0000004428 0.09 0.081598 0.00840213 0.00838 0.0000174764
K 26.7 99.6 392 721.6265 287.336 597.3715 1.149344 39,200 17,391.2 21,808.8024 21,763.4 45.36230899
Li 26.7 99.6 0.17 0.31295 0.12461 0.259064 0.00049844 17 7.542101 9.457899 9.43823 0.01967243
Mg 87.7 99.6 1290 4852.985 158.67 329.8749 0.63468 129,000 116,956.9 12,043.053 12,018 25.04955024
Mn 80.7 99.6 0.0004 0.001417 0.0000772 0.00016 3.088E-07 0.04 0.034141 0.00585948 0.00585 0.0000121877
Na 26.7 99.6 10,800 19,881.55 7916.4 16,458.2 31.6656 1,080,000 479,145.2 600,854.76 599,605 1249.777901
Ni 87.7 99.6 0.0066 0.024829 0.0008118 0.001688 0.000003247 0.66 0.598384 0.06161562 0.06149 0.00012816
Rb 26.7 99.6 0.12 0.220906 0.08796 0.182869 0.00035184 12 5.323836 6.676164 6.66228 0.013886421
SO4 93.3 99.6 2708 10,665.1 181.436 377.2054 0.725744 270,800 257,029 13,770.9924 13,742.3 28.64366419
Sr 87.7 99.6 8.1 30.47223 0.9963 2.071308 0.0039852 810 734.3808 75.61917 75.4619 0.157287874
U 40 99.6 0.0033 0.007457 0.00198 0.004116 0.00000792 0.33 0.179718 0.150282 0.14997 0.000312587
Zn 26.7 99.6 0.005 0.009204 0.003665 0.00762 0.00001466 0.5 0.221827 0.2781735 0.27759 0.000578601
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 357

Chitrakar R, Kanoh H, Miyai Y, Ooi K (2001) Recovery of

lithium from seawater using manganese oxide adsorbent
(H1. 6Mn1. 6O4) derived from Li1. 6Mn1. 6O4. Ind Eng
Chem Res 40:2054–2058
Cho T, Kim M-J (2019) Synthesis of magnesium sulfate from
seawater using alkaline industrial wastes, sulfuric acid, and
organic solvents. Sep Sci Technol 54:2749–2757. https://
doi.org/10.1080/01496395.2018.1553982
Choi Y, Naidu G, Jeong S et al (2018) Effect of chemical and
physical factors on the crystallization of calcium sulfate in
seawater reverse osmosis brine. Desalination 426:78–87.
Fig. 7 Mass balance around NF and RO membrane systems https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2017.10.037
Choi Y, Ryu S, Naidu G et al (2019) Integrated submerged
membrane distillation-adsorption system for rubidium
recovery. Sep Purif Technol 218:146–155. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.seppur.2019.02.050
References Choi Y, Naidu G, Lee S, Vigneswaran S (2020) Recovery of
sodium sulfate from seawater brine using fractional sub-
Abe M, Chitrakar R (1987) Synthetic inorganic ion-exchange merged membrane distillation crystallizer. Chemosphere
materials. XLV. Recovery of lithium from seawater and 238:124641
hydrothermal water by titanium (IV) antimonate cation Choubey PK, Kim M, Srivastava RR et al (2016) Advance
exchanger. Hydrometallurgy 19:117–128 review on the exploitation of the prominent energy-storage
Ali A, Quist-Jensen CA, Macedonio F, Drioli E (2015) Appli- element: Lithium. Part I: From mineral and brine resources.
cation of membrane crystallization for minerals’ recovery Miner Eng 89:119–137
from produced water. Membranes (Basel) 5:772–792. Chung HW, Nayar KG, Swaminathan J et al (2017) Thermo-
https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes5040772 dynamic analysis of brine management methods: Zero-
Al-Obaidani S, Curcio E, Macedonio F et al (2008) Potential of discharge desalination and salinity-gradient power pro-
membrane distillation in seawater desalination: thermal duction. Desalination 404:291–303. https://doi.org/10.
efficiency, sensitivity study and cost estimation. J Memb 1016/j.desal.2016.11.022
Sci 323:85–98 Cleveland CJ, Morris CG (2013) Handbook of energy:
Anthoni JF (2006) The chemical composition of seawater. chronologies, top ten lists, and word clouds. Elsevier
Magnesium 2701:62–96 Cohen-Tanugi D, Grossman JC (2012) Water desalination
Antonyan M (2019) Energy footprint of water desalination. 46 across nanoporous graphene. Nano Lett 12:3602–3608.
Arroyo F, Morillo J, Usero J et al (2019) Lithium recovery from https://doi.org/10.1021/nl3012853
desalination brines using specific ion-exchange resins. Cotruvo J, Voutchkov N, Fawell J, et al (eds) (2011) Overview
Desalination 468:114073 of the health and environmental impacts of desalination
Australia E (2018) Loy yang power station complex technology. In: Desalination technology: health and envi-
Barba D, Brandani V, Di Giacomo G, Foscolo PU (1980) ronmental impacts. CRC Press, pp 25–44
Magnesium oxide production from concentrated brines. Cui ZF, Jiang Y, Field RW (2010) Fundamentals of pressure-
Desalination 33:241–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0011- driven membrane separation processes. In: Membrane
9164(00)88567-7 technology. Elsevier, pp 1–18
Bardi U (2010) Extracting minerals from seawater: an energy Diallo MS, Kotte MR, Cho M (2015) Mining critical metals and
analysis. Sustainability 2:980–992. https://doi.org/10. elements from seawater: opportunities and challenges
3390/su2040980 Dong H, Unluer C, Yang E-H, Al-Tabbaa A (2018) Recovery of
Bartram J (ed) (2015) Water reuse. In: Routledge handbook of reactive MgO from reject brine via the addition of NaOH.
water and health. Routledge, pp 421–428 Desalination 429:88–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.
Bouchrit R, Boubakri A, Mosbahi T et al (2017) Membrane 2017.12.021
crystallization for mineral recovery from saline solution: Dong T, Yao J, Wang Y et al (2020) On the permselectivity of
Study case Na2SO4 crystals. Desalination 412:1–12. di-and mono-valent cations: Influence of applied current
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2017.02.021 density and ionic species concentration. Desalination
Chanhee B, Ian HB, Xi C, et al Zero liquid discharge of ultrahigh 488:114521
salinity brines with temperature swing solvent extraction. Dorji P, Kim DI, Hong S et al (2020) Pilot-scale membrane
Environ Sci Technol capacitive deionisation for effective bromide removal and
Chen B, Jiang C, Wang Y et al (2018) Selectrodialysis with high water recovery in seawater desalination. Desalination
bipolar membrane for the reclamation of concentrated 479:114309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2020.114309
brine from RO plant. Desalination 442:8–15. https://doi. Drioli E, Criscuoli A, Curcio E (2002) Integrated membrane
org/10.1016/j.desal.2018.04.031 operations for seawater desalination. Desalination
Chen W-S, Lee C-H, Chung Y-F et al (2020) Recovery of 147:77–81
rubidium and cesium resources from brine of desalination Du F, Warsinger DM, Urmi TI et al (2018) Sodium hydroxide
through t-BAMBP extraction. Metals (Basel) 10:607 production from seawater desalination brine: process

123
358 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

design and energy efficiency. Environ Sci Technol Kadaj E, Bosleman R (2018) Chapter 11 - Energy recovery
52:5949–5958. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b01195 devices in membrane desalination processes. In: Gude VG
Economics F (2011) Energy costs for sydney desalination (ed) Renewable energy powered desalination handbook.
El Saliby I, Okour Y, Shon HK et al (2009) Desalination plants Butterworth-Heinemann, pp 415–444
in Australia, review and facts. Desalination 247:1–14 Kaplan R, Mamrosh D, Salih HH, Dastgheib SA (2017)
Fernandez-Lozano JA (1996) Sodium Sulphate From Bittern By Assessment of desalination technologies for treatment of a
Methanol. Chem Eng Commun 154:87–99. https://doi.org/ highly saline brine from a potential CO2 storage site.
10.1080/00986449608936646 Desalination 404:87–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.
Fountain KEN, Kamalick J (2012) US chlor-alkali outlook 2016.11.018
uncertain. ICIS Chem Bus 282:14 Kesler SE, Gruber PW, Medina PA et al (2012) Global lithium
Ghaffour N, Missimer TM, Amy GL (2013) Technical review resources: relative importance of pegmatite, brine and
and evaluation of the economics of water desalination: other deposits. Ore Geol Rev 48:55–69
Current and future challenges for better water supply sus- Khasawneh QA, Tashtoush B, Nawafleh A, Kan’an B, (2018)
tainability. Desalination 309:197–207. https://doi.org/10. Techno-economic feasibility study of a hypersaline pres-
1016/j.desal.2012.10.015 sure-retarded osmosis power plants: dead sea-red sea
Ghyselbrecht K, Sansen B, Monballiu A et al (2019) Cationic conveyor. Energies 11:3118
selectrodialysis for magnesium recovery from seawater on Kim DH (2011) A review of desalting process techniques and
lab and pilot scale. Sep Purif Technol 221:12–22. https:// economic analysis of the recovery of salts from retentates.
doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2019.03.079 Desalination 270:1–8
Gibert O, Valderrama C, Peterkóva M, Cortina JL (2010) Kim J, Jeong K, Park MJ et al (2015) Recent advances in
Evaluation of selective sorbents for the extraction of osmotic energy generation via pressure-retarded osmosis
valuable metal ions (Cs, Rb, Li, U) from reverse osmosis (PRO): a review. Energies 8:11821–11845
rejected brine. Solvent Extr Ion Exch 28:543–562. https:// Kim D, Min KJ, Yu MS et al (2016) Use of concentrate water
doi.org/10.1080/07366299.2010.480931 from seawater desalination plant as magnesium sources for
Gilau AM, Failler P (2020) Economic assessment of sustainable struvite formation by using anaerobically digested effluent
blue energy and marine mining resources linked to African of swine wastewater. Desalin Water Treat
Large Marine Ecosystems. Environ Dev 36:100548. 57:26751–26757. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2016.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2020.100548 1189697
Global salt production (2019). In: Statista. https://www.statista. Kitamura T, Wada H (1978) Properties of adsorbents composed
com/statistics/237162/worldwide-salt-production/ of hydrous aluminum oxide, and its selective adsorption of
Goldman JE (2012) Selective salt recovery from reverse lithium from sea water. Nippon Kaisui Gakkai-Shi
osmosis concentrate using inter-stage ion exchange 32:78–81
Gong MH, Johns M, Fridjonsson E, Heckley P (2018) Gong: Kumar A, Phillips KR, Cai J et al (2019) Integrated valorization
magnesium recovery from desalination brine of desalination brine through naoh recovery: opportunities
Harvianto GR, Kim S-H, Ju C-S (2016) Solvent extraction and and challenges. Angew Chemie Int Ed 58:6502–6511.
stripping of lithium ion from aqueous solution and its https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201810469
application to seawater. Rare Met 35:948–953 Kurihara M, Yamamura H, Nakanishi T, Jinno S (2001) Oper-
Hickenbottom KL, Cath TY (2014) Sustainable operation of ation and reliability of very high-recovery seawater
membrane distillation for enhancement of mineral recov- desalination technologies by brine conversion two-stage
ery from hypersaline solutions. J Memb Sci 454:426–435 RO desalination system. Desalination 138:191–199
Hoshino T (2015) Innovative lithium recovery technique from Lee E-K, Jung K-D, Joo O-S, Shul Y-G (2004) Magnesium
seawater by using world-first dialysis with a lithium ionic oxide as an effective catalyst in catalytic wet oxidation of H
superconductor. Desalination 359:59–63 2 S to sulfur. React Kinet Catal Lett 82:241–246
Ibáñez R, Pérez-González A, Gómez P et al (2013) Acid and Lee J, Yu SH, Kim C et al (2013) Highly selective lithium
base recovery from softened reverse osmosis (RO) brines. recovery from brine using a k-MnO 2-Ag battery. Phys
Experimental assessment using model concentrates. Chem Chem Phys 15:7690–7695. https://doi.org/10.1039/
Desalination 309:165–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal. c3cp50919b
2012.10.006 Lee D-H, Ryu T, Shin J et al (2017) Selective lithium recovery
İpekçi D, Altıok E, Bunani S et al (2018) Effect of acid-base from aqueous solution using a modified membrane
solutions used in acid-base compartments for simultaneous capacitive deionization system. Hydrometallurgy
recovery of lithium and boron from aqueous solution using 173:283–288
bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED). Desalination Li W, Krantz WB, Cornelissen ER et al (2013) A novel hybrid
448:69–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2018.10.001 process of reverse electrodialysis and reverse osmosis for
Jia Z, Wang B, Song S, Fan Y (2014) Blue energy: current low energy seawater desalination and brine management.
technologies for sustainable power generation from water Appl Energy 104:592–602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
salinity gradient. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 31:91–100 apenergy.2012.11.064
Jin F, Al-Tabbaa A (2014) Characterisation of different com- Li Y, Zhao Y, Wang H, Wang M (2019) The application of
mercial reactive magnesia. Adv Cem Res 26:101–113 nanofiltration membrane for recovering lithium from salt
Jones E, Qadir M, van Vliet MTH et al (2019) The state of lake brine. Desalination 468:114081
desalination and brine production: a global outlook. Sci Li Y, Zhao Y, Wang H, Wang M (2019) The application of
Total Environ 657:1343–1356 nanofiltration membrane for recovering lithium from salt

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 359

lake brine. Desalination 468:114081. https://doi.org/10. Ohya H, Suzuki T, Nakao S (2001) Integrated system for
1016/j.desal.2019.114081 complete usage of components in seawater: a proposal of
Liao J, Chen Q, Pan N, et al (2020) Amphoteric blend ion- inorganic chemical combinat on seawater. Desalination
exchange membranes for separating monovalent and 134:29–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0011-
bivalent anions in electrodialysis. Sep Purif Technol 9164(01)00112-6
116793 Olkis C, Santori G, Brandani S (2018) An adsorption reverse
Liu B, Giannis A, Zhang J et al (2013) Characterization of electrodialysis system for the generation of electricity from
induced struvite formation from source-separated urine low-grade heat. Appl Energy 231:222–234. https://doi.org/
using seawater and brine as magnesium sources. Chemo- 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.09.112
sphere 93:2738–2747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. Ortiz-Albo P, Torres-Ortega S, Gonzalez Prieto M et al (2019)
chemosphere.2013.09.025 Techno-economic feasibility analysis for minor elements
Liu G, Zhao Z, He L (2020) Highly selective lithium recovery valorization from desalination concentrates. Sep Purif Rev
from high Mg/Li ratio brines. Desalination 474:114185 48:220–241
Logan BE, Elimelech M (2012) Membrane-based processes for Pan SY, Snyder SW, Lin YJ, Chiang PC (2018) Electrokinetic
sustainable power generation using water. Nature desalination of brackish water and associated challenges in
488:313–319. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11477 the water and energy nexus. Environ Sci Water Res
Loganathan P, Naidu G, Vigneswaran S (2017) Mining valuable Technol 4:613–638
minerals from seawater: a critical review. Environ Sci Park H, Singhal N, Jho EH (2015) Lithium sorption properties of
Water Res Technol 3:37–53. https://doi.org/10.1039/ HMnO in seawater and wastewater. Water Res 87:320–327
c6ew00268d Petersková M, Valderrama C, Gibert O, Cortina JL (2012)
Macedonio F, Curcio E, Drioli E (2007) Integrated membrane Extraction of valuable metal ions (Cs, Rb, Li, U) from
systems for seawater desalination: energetic and exergetic reverse osmosis concentrate using selective sorbents.
analysis, economic evaluation, experimental study. Desalination 286:316–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.
Desalination 203:260–276 2011.11.042
Mero JL (1965) The mineral resources of the sea. Elsevier Pramanik BK, Shu L, Jegatheesan V (2017) A review of the
Micale G, Cipollina A, Tamburini A (2016) 1 - Salinity gradient management and treatment of brine solutions. Environ Sci
energy. In: Cipollina A, Micale G (eds) Sustainable energy Water Res Technol 3:625–658
from salinity gradients. Woodhead Publishing, pp 1–17 Quist-Jensen CA, Ali A, Mondal S et al (2016) A study of
Mo L, Deng M, Tang M, Al-Tabbaa A (2014) MgO expansive membrane distillation and crystallization for lithium
cement and concrete in China: past, present and future. recovery from high-concentrated aqueous solutions.
Cem Concr Res 57:1–12 J Memb Sci 505:167–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
Mohammad AF, El-Naas MH, Al-Marzouqi AH et al (2019) memsci.2016.01.033
Optimization of magnesium recovery from reject brine for Quist-Jensen CA, Macedonio F, Drioli E (2016) Membrane
reuse in desalination post-treatment. J Water Process Eng crystallization for salts recovery from brine—an experi-
31:100810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2019.100810 mental and theoretical analysis. Desalin Water Treat
Morillo J, Usero J, Rosado D et al (2014) Comparative study of 57:7593–7603. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2015.
brine management technologies for desalination plants. 1030110
Desalination 336:32–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal. Quist-Jensen C, Macedonio F, Drioli E (2016) Integrated
2013.12.038 membrane desalination systems with membrane crystal-
Muroga T (2005) Vanadium alloys for fusion blanket applica- lization units for resource recovery: a new approach for
tions. Mater Trans 46:405–411 mining from the sea. Cryst 6:36. https://doi.org/10.3390/
Na HR, Kim MJ (2019) Determination of optimal conditions for cryst6040036
magnesium recovery process from seawater desalination Quist-Jensen CA, Macedonio F, Horbez D, Drioli E (2017)
brine using paper sludge ash, sulfuric acid, and ethanol. Reclamation of sodium sulfate from industrial wastewater
Desalin Water Treat 157:324–331. https://doi.org/10.5004/ by using membrane distillation and membrane crystal-
dwt.2019.23791 lization. Desalination 401:112–119
Naidu G, Jeong S, Vigneswaran S (2014) Influence of feed/ Rao L (2010) Recent international R&D activities in the
permeate velocity on scaling development in a direct extraction of uranium from seawater. Lawrence Berkeley
contact membrane distillation. Sep Purif Technol National Lab.(LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
125:291–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2014.01. Ravizky A, Nadav N (2007) Salt production by the evaporation
049 of SWRO brine in Eilat: a success story. Desalination
Naidu G, Nur T, Loganathan P et al (2016) Selective sorption of 205:374–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2006.03.559
rubidium by potassium cobalt hexacyanoferrate. Sep Purif Reddy ST, Lewis AE, Witkamp GJ et al (2010) Recovery of
Technol 163:238–246 Na2SO410H2O from a reverse osmosis retentate by
Naidu G, Jeong S, Johir MAH et al (2017) Rubidium extraction eutectic freeze crystallisation technology. Chem Eng Res
from seawater brine by an integrated membrane distilla- Des 88:1153–1157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2010.
tion-selective sorption system. Water Res 123:321–331. 01.010
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2017.06.078 Reig M, Farrokhzad H, Van der Bruggen B et al (2015) Syn-
Nishihama S, Onishi K, Yoshizuka K (2011) Selective recovery thesis of a monovalent selective cation exchange mem-
process of lithium from seawater using integrated ion brane to concentrate reverse osmosis brines by
exchange methods. Solvent Extr Ion Exch 29:421–431 electrodialysis. Desalination 375:1–9

123
360 Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361

Roychoudhury AN, Petersen J (2014) Geochemical evaluation membrane processes. J Memb Sci 296:171–184. https://
of soils and groundwater affected by infiltrating effluent doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2007.03.031
from evaporation ponds of a heavy mineral processing Um N, Hirato T (2014) Precipitation behavior of Ca(OH)2,
facility, West Coast, South Africa. J Geochemical Explor Mg(OH)2, and Mn(OH)2 from CaCl2, MgCl2, and MnCl2
144:478–491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2014.02. in NaOH-H2O solutions and study of lithium recovery
016 from seawater via two-stage precipitation process.
Ruud K (IRENA), Frank N (IMIEU) (2014) Salinity gradient Hydrometallurgy 146:142–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
energy hydromet.2014.04.006
Saito K, Irie M, Zaitsu S et al (2012) Power generation with Umeno A, Miyai Y, Takagi N et al (2002) Preparation and
salinity gradient by pressure retarded osmosis using con- adsorptive properties of membrane-type adsorbents for
centrated brine from SWRO system and treated sewage as lithium recovery from seawater. Ind Eng Chem Res
pure water. Desalin Water Treat 41:114–121. https://doi. 41:4281–4287
org/10.1080/19443994.2012.664696 United Nations (2018) United nations secretary-general’s plan:
Sano Y, Hao Y, Kuwahara F (2018) Development of an elec- water action decade 2018–2028
trolysis based system to continuously recover magnesium Veerman J, Saakes M, Metz SJ, Harmsen GJ (2009) Reverse
from seawater. Heliyon 4:e00923. https://doi.org/10.1016/ electrodialysis: performance of a stack with 50 cells on the
j.heliyon.2018.e00923 mixing of sea and river water. J Memb Sci 327:136–144
Schaep J, Vandecasteele C, Wahab Mohammad A, Richard Vermaas DA, Guler E, Saakes M, Nijmeijer K (2012) Theo-
Bowen W (2001) Modelling the retention of ionic com- retical power density from salinity gradients using reverse
ponents for different nanofiltration membranes. Sep Purif electrodialysis. Energy Procedia 20:170–184. https://doi.
Technol 22–23:169–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1383- org/10.1016/j.egypro.2012.03.018
5866(00)00163-5 Vermaas DA, Veerman J, Yip NY et al (2013) High efficiency in
Schafer U (1998) Past and present conceptions concerning the energy generation from salinity gradients with reverse
use of lithium in medicine. J trace microprobe Tech electrodialysis. ACS Sustain Chem Eng 1:1295–1302
16:535–556 Wan CF, Chung T-S (2016) Energy recovery by pressure
Scheme A, SCIdea B, People K (2016) Uranium from the sea retarded osmosis (PRO) in SWRO–PRO integrated pro-
Sethi S, Wetterau G (2011) Seawater desalination overview cesses. Appl Energy 162:687–698. https://doi.org/10.1016/
Shahmansouri A, Min J, Jin L, Bellona C (2015) Feasibility of j.apenergy.2015.10.067
extracting valuable minerals from desalination concen- Wang JL (1999) The present status of lithium extraction from
trate: a comprehensive literature review. J Clean Prod Li-bearing brines. Ind Miner Process 12:1–5
100:4–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.03.031 Wang M, Zhang G, Wang X, Zhang J (2009) Solvent extraction
Shand MA (2006) The chemistry and technology of magnesia. of vanadium from sulfuric acid solution. Rare Met
John Wiley & Sons 28:209–211
Shih W, Yallaly B, Marshall M, DeMichele D (2013) Chino II Wang H, Zhong Y, Du B et al (2018) Recovery of both mag-
desalter concentrate management via innovative byprod- nesium and lithium from high Mg/Li ratio brines using a
uct. San Anotonio, TX Am Membr Technol Assoc novel process. Hydrometallurgy 175:102–108. https://doi.
Alexandratos, SD (2008) Ion-exchange resins a Retrosp org/10.1016/j.hydromet.2017.10.017
from Ind Eng Chem Res Ind Eng Chem Res 48:388–398 Wang Z, Horseman T, Straub AP et al (2019) Pathways and
Survey USG (2009) Mineral commodity summaries, 2009. challenges for efficient solar-thermal desalination. Sci Adv
Government Printing Office 5:eaax 0763
Takeuchi T (1980) Extraction of lithium from sea water with Wang W, Liu R, Tan M et al (2019) Evaluation of the ideal
metallic aluminum. J Nucl Sci Technol 17:922–928 selectivity and the performance of selectrodialysis by using
Tran KT, Van Luong T, An J-W et al (2013) Recovery of TFC ion exchange membranes. J Memb Sci 582:236–245
magnesium from Uyuni salar brine as high purity magne- Werner A, Rieger A, Helbig K et al (2019) Nanofiltration for the
sium oxalate. Hydrometallurgy 138:93–99. https://doi.org/ recovery of indium and germanium from bioleaching
10.1016/j.hydromet.2013.05.013 solutions. Sep Purif Technol 224:543–552. https://doi.org/
Tristán C, Rumayor M, Dominguez-Ramos A et al (2020) Life 10.1016/j.seppur.2019.05.025
cycle assessment of salinity gradient energy recovery by Wiechert AI, Ladshaw AP, Gill GA et al (2018) Uranium
reverse electrodialysis in a seawater reverse osmosis resource recovery from desalination plant feed and reject
desalination plant. Sustain Energy Fuels 4:4273–4284 water using amidoxime functionalized adsorbent. Ind Eng
Turek M, Chora˛z_ ewska M (2009) Nanofiltration process for Chem Res 57:17237–17244. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.
seawater desalination–salt production integrated system. iecr.8b04673
Desalin Water Treat 7:178–181 Wittholz MK, O’Neill BK, Colby CB, Lewis D (2008) Esti-
Turek M, Dydo P (2003) Hybrid membrane-thermal versus mating the cost of desalination plants using a cost database.
simple membrane systems. Desalination 157:51–56 Desalination 229:10–20
Turek M, Mitko K, Laskowska E et al (2018) Energy con- Yanagase K, Yoshinaga T, Kawano K, Matsuoka T (1983) The
sumption and gypsum scaling assessment in a hybrid recovery of lithium from geothermal water in the Hatcho-
nanofiltration-reverse osmosis-electrodialysis system. baru area of Kyushu, Japan. Bull Chem Soc Jpn
Chem Eng Technol 41:392–400 56:2490–2498
Tzotzi C, Pahiadaki T, Yiantsios SG et al (2007) A study of Ye Z-L, Ghyselbrecht K, Monballiu A et al (2018) Fractionating
CaCO3 scale formation and inhibition in RO and NF magnesium ion from seawater for struvite recovery using

123
Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol (2021) 20:333–361 361

electrodialysis with monovalent selective membranes. brine. Hydrometallurgy 187:125–133. https://doi.org/10.

Chemosphere 210:867–876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. 1016/j.hydromet.2019.05.019
chemosphere.2018.07.078 Zhao W-Y, Zhou M, Yan B et al (2018) Waste conversion and
Yip NY, Elimelech M (2012) Thermodynamic and energy resource recovery from wastewater by ion exchange
efficiency analysis of power generation from natural membranes: state-of-the-art and perspective. Ind Eng
salinity gradients by pressure retarded osmosis. Environ Chem Res 57:6025–6039. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.
Sci Technol 46:5230–5239 8b00519
Zhang Y, Paepen S, Pinoy L et al (2012) Selectrodialysis: Zhou D, Zhu L, Fu Y et al (2015) Development of lower cost
fractionation of divalent ions from monovalent ions in a seawater desalination processes using nanofiltration tech-
novel electrodialysis stack. Sep Purif Technol 88:191–201 nologies—a review. Desalination 376:109–116
Zhang Y-F, Liu L, Du J et al (2017) Fracsis: Ion fractionation
and metathesis by a NF-ED integrated system to improve
Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with
water recovery. J Memb Sci 523:385–393. https://doi.org/
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
10.1016/j.memsci.2016.09.052
institutional affiliations.
Zhang Y, Hu Y, Sun N et al (2019) A novel precipitant for
separating lithium from magnesium in high Mg/Li ratio

123