September 2022 Technical Noon Webinar

Zoom (Registration is Required - Click on ORANGE button above to register)
Wednesday, September 21, 2022 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

The Mineral Recovery Enhanced Desalination (MRED) Process:
Addressing the Challenges of Inland Desalination

Bruce Thomson, Ph.D., P.E.
UNM Dept. of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering

  ABSTRACT: 

The challenges of desalinating brackish ground water are much different than for seawater desalination
due largely to high concentrations of scale forming constituents that limit feed water recovery and
limited options for disposal of the high total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrate. The Mineral Recovery
Enhanced Desalination (MRED) process addresses these issues by using a sequence of unit operations to
remove scale forming constituents and recover them as commodity minerals. The major benefit of the
process is that it reduces the mass and volume of concentrate from the desal process which greatly
reduces the cost and complexity of managing these wastes. This presentation describes the design,
construction and testing of a 1 gal/min pilot plant- to evaluate the MRED process. The system has been
recently installed at the Bureau of Reclamation’s Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research
Facility (BGNDRF) in Alamogordo. Results acquired to date will be discussed.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPY:

Bruce Thomson is a Research Professor and Professor Emeritus in the UNM Department of Civil,
Construction and Environmental Engineering. His research and teaching has focused on the chemistry
and treatment of inorganic constituents in water including arsenic, selenium, and uranium, quantitation
of produced water from oil & gas development, and studies of water resources of NM and the arid
southwest. He was formerly Director of UNM’s Water Resources Program and is currently assisting that
program as its Interim Associate Director. He is the monthly webinar coordinator for the NM Water
Committee and is always looking for speakers. Most importantly, he is among the last licensed
engineers in NM who owns a slide rule and knows how to use it.

REGISTRATION:

Membership in AWWA or WEF is not required. All attendees must pre-register for this webinar by Tuesday evening, 9/20/22 at 5:00 p.m. This is required to maintain a record of those attending to satisfy training requirements for PE licensure or Water/Wastewater Operator Certification. Operators will be asked for NM Operator Certification number on the online registration form. Continuing Education is only available in New Mexico.

OCTOBER WEBINAR:

TBD