Project Results Presentation - Agrarian

31 Pages·2009·1.84 MB·English

by  Carla Scheidlinger

SALTON SEA SOLAR PONDS
PILOT PROJECT
Agrarian Research
162 East Line Street Suite E
Bishop, CA 93514
Under contract to:
Goal of Salinity Management
• Stabilize (or reduce
slightly) the salinity of
the Salton Sea by
permanently removing
from the Sea water all
the salt that enters the
Sea annually through
inflowing water
• Manage and stabilize
Sea elevation through
selective removal of
excess water
Scientific Goals of the Pilot Pond
Project
• Establish the evaporation rate from the brine
• Determine the leakage rate from unlined ponds
• Develop a brine concentration path that will
determine the salinity at which the Salton Sea
brine begins making solid salt, and which will
define the chemical composition of the bittern
• Determine the annual growth rate of the salt
Additional Goals of the Pilot
Pond Project
• Develop cost-effective strategies for design,
construction, operation, and maintenance
of a salt removal facility
• Allow for storage of the salt removed in an
environmentally benign fashion
• Conduct research regarding any potential
environmental liabilities
• Public education
WHY DO A PILOT PROJECT?
•On-the-ground experience
•Specific data for design
•Biological monitoring
•Public education and
stakeholder buy-in
Pilot Project demonstrated
feasibility in field…
Solid salt beds forming
in crystallizers
Pilot project at Niland, CA
…developed data with laboratory
experiments,
Accelerated
evaporation of
brine in the
laboratory
resulted in
reliable data on
brine chemistry
and salt
precipitation
Evaporation
data were
collected on site,
as well as
collection and
analysis of solid
salt samples
from the ponds
…and created a laboratory for
biological monitoring.
GOAL
Stabilize (or reduce slightly) the salinity of the Salton Sea by
permanently removing from the Sea water all the salt that
enters the Sea annually through inflowing water
Removal of salt
from the Sea is
Water volume
accomplished by
Concentration
pumping Sea
brine into a
series of
evaporation
ponds that Concentrator
Concentrator
Pond 1 Concentrator
concentrate the Pond 2
Pond 3
brine to the
Solid salt
point where
ponds
solid salts
precipitate
Scientific data are needed to
develop an optimum design for
solar ponds
• Evaporation rates
• Leakage rates
• Characteristics of feed brine
• Brine concentration path