Evaluation of the impact of brine discharge position on salinity in the Persian/Arabian Gulf’s slow flushing zone
Title :
Evaluation of the impact of brine discharge position on salinity in the Persian/Arabian Gulf’s slow flushing zone
The Persian/Arabian Gulf is the sink of hypersaline effluent (brine) for plants with about half ofnthe world’s seawater desalination capacity. Many of these plants discharge brine into the Gulf’snsouthwestern region where the salt in brine accumulates because seawater there is not replacednoften by the Gulf’s residual circulation (i.e., the region is poorly flushed). This circulation flushesnthe whole Gulf and inhibits salt accumulation at the basin scale. But flushing is not effective innthe southwestern region, which has been described as the “Gulf’s slow flushing zone.” Here, thenimpact of brine discharge position on salinity in this zone is evaluated by comparing two scenariosnof brine discharge into the Gulf’s residual circulation dynamics. In the first scenario, brine from then24 largest seawater desalination plants in the Gulf is introduced into the residual circulation; and innthe second scenario, the brine discharge position of one of these 24 plants is positioned away fromnthe slow flushing zone. In the two scenarios, brine discharge caused salt buildup in the slow flushingnzone. However, annual area-average salinity there is about 1.10–1.55 PSU smaller in scenario twoncompared to scenario one, indicating the influence of discharge position on salt buildup becausenof brine discharge. This study, accordingly, suggests a methodology for selecting brine dischargenposition in the Gulf’s slow flushing zone.