Potassium mining activities result in the discharge of highly saline wastewaters, creating severe environmental impacts in water and soil. This study evaluates the environmental performance of a novel pilot system developed in the framework of the LIFE Brine-Mining project. The system comprises membrane, precipitation and thermal technologies, recovering high-purity water and five valuable resources from it: magnesium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, sodium chloride, and potassium chloride. A cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed following the standards ISO14040 and EN15804 and using 1 m3 of potassium wastewater as functional unit.
Read more: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/18/5/584