June 30, 2021, Boston, MA – The International Desalination and Reuse Association is in partnership with the renowned Desalination Technology Research Institute (DTRI) and Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) announce March 21-23, 2022 as new dates for the 3-day Specialty Conference on Ocean Brine Mining for Desalination, to be held at the Le Meridien Hotel, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
Jointly organized by the IDRA and DTRI of SWCC, under the patronage of the Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, this specialty conference is a forum for technical experts, scientists, applied researchers, practitioners, and innovators. The aim is to share their latest technologies and experience in brine concentration extraction of valuable minerals. Brine mining is trailblazing a new desalination industry path of Zero Discharge & Cost (ZD&C) desalination.
This landmark event aims to capture a new industry trend of turning brine generated by desalination plants from a waste product into a sustainable and valuable alternative source of minerals currently obtained by terrestrial mining.
“Our vision for the future of the desalination industry is to harness the value contained in seawater brine and to use it for subsidizing the production of desalinated water, thereby transforming desalination into the lowest cost freshwater production technology in the world,” said H.E. Abdullah Al-Abdul Kareem, Governor of Saline Water Conversion Corporation.
The conference will provide a unique forum to experts and innovators in this new and promising field to share their knowledge and experience on leading-edge technologies that convert cost-effectively brine into mineral products and extract rare metals of strategic importance for advanced industries, including lithium, cesium, rubidium, barium.
The conference’s Day 1 Program is entitled “Technologies for Brine Concentration and Zero Liquid Discharge.” It explores themes such as State of the Art of Thermal Brine Concentration, Brine Concentration for Harvesting of Minerals, and The Future of Brine Concentration – Next Generation Technologies. Day 2, “Technologies for Mining of Minerals and Metals from Brine,” focuses on state-of-the-art of brine extraction technologies. Day 3 has a session on “Case Studies for Desalination Brine Mining” showcasing projects for successful brine mining, an Expert Forum on “Brine Mining Challenges and Solutions,” and a visit to the SWCC Brine Mining Research Facility in Jubail and the 320,000 m3/day Ras Al Khair desalination plant.
The conference will have four types of sponsors – Platinum – US$100,000; Gold – US$50,000; Silver – US$25,000; Bronze – US$10,000.
SWCC/DTRI will select and sponsor Best Paper Awards. The awards will be as follows: Premier Best Paper and Best Paper. The Premier Best Paper will reward the recipient US$10,000, and The Best Paper will have a reward of US$5,000.
Two researchers will also be awarded 6-month DTRI Scholarships for the funding and pilot testing of their research at the DTRI center in Jubail. The scholarships will cover all expenses of the selected scientists to travel to Jubail and pilot test and advance their technologies for six months at the DTRI. They will provide a 6-month stipend/salary for the period of the scholarship. The two scholarships to be awarded by DTRI/SWCC are:
• Scholarship for Advancement of Mineral Extraction Technology
• Scholarship for Advancement of Rare Metal Extraction Technology
“The question of Ocean Brine Concentrate Mining continues to be key in developing a sustainable future, and the IDRA applauds the Saline Water Conversion Corporation for taking a lead role on this important subject,” said Ms. Shannon McCarthy, IDRA Secretary General.
The Call for Extended Abstracts Now Closes on December 1, 2021
Technical Program Topics include:
1. State of the Art of Thermal Brine Concentration
2. Advanced Technologies for Membrane Brine Concentration
3. Non-thermal & Non-membrane Brine Concentration Technologies
4. Brine Concentration for Harvesting of Minerals
5. Brine Concentration for Harvesting of Rare Metals
6. Brine Concentration for Zero Liquid Discharge
7. Case Studies for Brine Concentration
8. Case Studies for Zero Liquid Discharge
9. Lowering Cost and Energy Use Barriers for Brine Concentration
10. The Future of Brine Concentration – Next Generation Technologies
*Accepted Technical papers may also be considered for the IDRA WC 2022 Technical Program.
Conference Chairman:
Dr. Ahmad S. Al-Amoudi, President
Conference Technical Program Committee Chairman:
Mr. Nikolay Voutchkov, Senior Expert
Conference Technical Program Committee:
Dr. Christopher Fellows, Senior Expert
Mr. Fritz Alt, Senior Expert
Dr. Basel Al Sharkh, Senior Expert
Dr. Seungwon Ihm, Senior Expert
Dr. Young Yoo, Senior Expert
Mr. Borja Blanco, CEO, Aqua Advise, Spain
Mr. Devesh Sharma, Managing Director, Aquatech, USA
Mr. Miguel Angel Sanz, Director of Strategic Development, Suez, France
Mr. Silvio Oliva, Chief Executive Officer Fisia Italimpianti S.p.A., Italy
Mr. Victor Verbeek, General Manager for Australia & New Zealand Regional, Toray Membrane
Dr. Domingo Zarzo, Technical and R&D Manager, Sacyr Water, Spain
Dr. Miriam Balaban, Desalination and Water Treatment Journal, Editor-in-Chief, European Desalination Society, Secretary General