I'm interested to see what mitigation strategies they have for everything the ocean can throw at them. Microbial life, algae, tidal shifts, and everything else. The ocean is known to take any...
I'm interested to see what mitigation strategies they have for everything the ocean can throw at them. Microbial life, algae, tidal shifts, and everything else. The ocean is known to take any complex system that isn't just a boat hull and find ways to tear it apart. Maybe they'll have to build some kind of tidal pool infrastructure around it.
Desalination of water is something I think needs a ton more attention, so kudos to these peeps!
A sailboat came ashore here one afternoon a year or so ago; the captain had set course then had a nap below, just stepped off the boat when it grounded. By next morning the largest remaining...
isn't just a boat hull and find ways to tear it apart
A sailboat came ashore here one afternoon a year or so ago; the captain had set course then had a nap below, just stepped off the boat when it grounded. By next morning the largest remaining pieces of the hull were little bigger than a napkin.
An idea that's been floating in my head for some time is essentially a hoover-dam-scale engineering project which builds a giant series of evaporative aquaducts and silos from somewhere like LA...
An idea that's been floating in my head for some time is essentially a hoover-dam-scale engineering project which builds a giant series of evaporative aquaducts and silos from somewhere like LA all the way into the Las Vegas region. Use tall, clear silos allowing the evaporative process help with raising elevation, and leveraging as much gravity as possible to help keep the water flowing.
In my head there's some level of leveraging a gigantic siphon for the return channel which helps reduce the energy required to pump the water higher in elevation. Using windmills to directly help pump the water rather than converting to electricity first would also help. Black piping to heat the water as it travels out of the ocean. The first clear silo serves as the first-stage condensation capture and returns the saltiest water back to the ocean (ideally diluting heavily and spreading out over miles of slow release). Then for the final stages of desalination the waste gets dumped in a designated low-lying dump site and we accept that we had to write off life in that land.
The previous discussion also talked about that, though no definite answer is given there. Various people claim that if the sludge is mixed in with new ocean water and released spread out enough,...
The previous discussion also talked about that, though no definite answer is given there.
Various people claim that if the sludge is mixed in with new ocean water and released spread out enough, it shouldn't be an issue. Which to me, on the surface anyway, does seem to make some sense. I mean, the salt comes from the water already and evaporation is also happening all the time.
Of course there are various caveats:
The amount of freshwater (and therefore salt sludge) produced might be of such volumes that it is next to impossible to mix it back in a way that is diluted enough.
Evaporation rates vary, so it might highly depend on what part of the world if it does have impact.
Various other aspects much smarter people who actually know about this sort of thing
Something I have often wondered, can't the sludge not be used for salt production? Stuff like table salt and all that? Of course, that might cause other side effects, like economically pushing out traditional regions producing sea salt. Assuming it is possible to use the salt sludge for salt production in the first place.
Table salt isn't the only application for salt. Dutch firm Desolenator uses specialized solar panels to power and heat their desalination plants and instead of returning the brine to the sea, it...
Table salt isn't the only application for salt. Dutch firm Desolenator uses specialized solar panels to power and heat their desalination plants and instead of returning the brine to the sea, it fully evaporates it to also get the salt itself which the plant sells separately for industrial processes.
I’m glad someone else brought up the idea of using the leftover brine to produce sea salt. I don’t know the specifics of typical sea salt production, so I don’t know how they deal with all the...
I’m glad someone else brought up the idea of using the leftover brine to produce sea salt.
I don’t know the specifics of typical sea salt production, so I don’t know how they deal with all the “stuff” that’s not salt or water. Is the salt treated in some way prior to packaging, aside from those products that add iodine or other minerals?
Regardless, I saw this when it was originally posted and I’m glad to see it get more attention. Hopefully this can actually become a real and usable product, cause goodness knows we’ll need it, and likely sooner than we think.
I find how salt is made to be pretty interesting! Rock salt is mined. I can't remember how I came across it, but a lake in Louisiana is now big, deep, and salty due to an oil mining accident that...
Most table salt comes from brine mining - a process similar to fracking. They pump water into the ground to dissolve salt deposits, pump it back out, remove dissolved minerals that aren't salt, then use evaporation in big pans.
Much of what gives sea salt its distinctive characteristics is the other "stuff" in the water. They'll make sure there aren't solid masses like fish or seaweed, but it's the sea, for better or for...
Much of what gives sea salt its distinctive characteristics is the other "stuff" in the water. They'll make sure there aren't solid masses like fish or seaweed, but it's the sea, for better or for worse. If the sea is polluted, so too is the salt.
I'm interested to see what mitigation strategies they have for everything the ocean can throw at them. Microbial life, algae, tidal shifts, and everything else. The ocean is known to take any complex system that isn't just a boat hull and find ways to tear it apart. Maybe they'll have to build some kind of tidal pool infrastructure around it.
Desalination of water is something I think needs a ton more attention, so kudos to these peeps!
Even boat hulls. There's a reason boats need to be dry docked periodically, cleaned and re-painted.
A sailboat came ashore here one afternoon a year or so ago; the captain had set course then had a nap below, just stepped off the boat when it grounded. By next morning the largest remaining pieces of the hull were little bigger than a napkin.
Previous discussions can also be found here.
An idea that's been floating in my head for some time is essentially a hoover-dam-scale engineering project which builds a giant series of evaporative aquaducts and silos from somewhere like LA all the way into the Las Vegas region. Use tall, clear silos allowing the evaporative process help with raising elevation, and leveraging as much gravity as possible to help keep the water flowing.
In my head there's some level of leveraging a gigantic siphon for the return channel which helps reduce the energy required to pump the water higher in elevation. Using windmills to directly help pump the water rather than converting to electricity first would also help. Black piping to heat the water as it travels out of the ocean. The first clear silo serves as the first-stage condensation capture and returns the saltiest water back to the ocean (ideally diluting heavily and spreading out over miles of slow release). Then for the final stages of desalination the waste gets dumped in a designated low-lying dump site and we accept that we had to write off life in that land.
Wouldn't the increased salinity of the seawater be detrimental to the ecosystem?
The previous discussion also talked about that, though no definite answer is given there.
Various people claim that if the sludge is mixed in with new ocean water and released spread out enough, it shouldn't be an issue. Which to me, on the surface anyway, does seem to make some sense. I mean, the salt comes from the water already and evaporation is also happening all the time.
Of course there are various caveats:
Something I have often wondered, can't the sludge not be used for salt production? Stuff like table salt and all that? Of course, that might cause other side effects, like economically pushing out traditional regions producing sea salt. Assuming it is possible to use the salt sludge for salt production in the first place.
Apparently not. The sea in areas near desalination plants tends to be polluted with metals and stuff, which you can't put into table salt.
Table salt isn't the only application for salt. Dutch firm Desolenator uses specialized solar panels to power and heat their desalination plants and instead of returning the brine to the sea, it fully evaporates it to also get the salt itself which the plant sells separately for industrial processes.
I’m glad someone else brought up the idea of using the leftover brine to produce sea salt.
I don’t know the specifics of typical sea salt production, so I don’t know how they deal with all the “stuff” that’s not salt or water. Is the salt treated in some way prior to packaging, aside from those products that add iodine or other minerals?
Regardless, I saw this when it was originally posted and I’m glad to see it get more attention. Hopefully this can actually become a real and usable product, cause goodness knows we’ll need it, and likely sooner than we think.
I find how salt is made to be pretty interesting!
Rock salt is mined. I can't remember how I came across it, but a lake in Louisiana is now big, deep, and salty due to an oil mining accident that pierced a salt mine. Do an image search on salt mines, many of them are beautiful. Wieliczka salt mine in Poland is a tourist attraction, it includes an underground chapel that has reliefs carved out of salt deposits.
Production of sea salt is mostly evaporation. There's some treatment involved to remove non salt from the water. Fleur de sel is made by hand gathering a layer of salt that floats on partially evaporated sea water water.
Most table salt comes from brine mining - a process similar to fracking. They pump water into the ground to dissolve salt deposits, pump it back out, remove dissolved minerals that aren't salt, then use evaporation in big pans.
Much of what gives sea salt its distinctive characteristics is the other "stuff" in the water. They'll make sure there aren't solid masses like fish or seaweed, but it's the sea, for better or for worse. If the sea is polluted, so too is the salt.
*brine, not sluge