Waste to wealth: A critical analysis of resource recovery from desalination brine

Desalination brine has several potential adverse impacts on the marine environment. Though, the concerns and counter-arguments regarding the environmental impacts of desalination brine have remained under debate. Resource recovery from desalination brine is a fascinating approach not only to minimize these harmful impacts but also to reduce the cost of desalination by generating revenues. In addition, it provides a sustainable way of extracting precious materials from the brine compared to land-based mining and can increase the profitability of desalination facilities if these materials could be marketed. The recovery of these minerals, however, depends on several factors such as energy considerations, economy, feasibility, and technical aspects of the technology. This article presents a critical and comprehensive review to evaluate the various techniques for the recovery of minerals from desalination brine. The commonly used approaches for the recovery of precious materials from brine include electrochemical processes, physiochemical driven processes, thermal driven techniques and pressure-driven techniques. Key technological challenges associated with these techniques are highlighted. Recommendations for future work are also provided to develop more sustainable approaches for the recovery of precious materials from brine.