The freeze desalination of mine waters

Consideration is given to the technical and economic feasibility of freeze desalination as a technique for the simultaneous provision 01 ice to cool deep mines and for the desalination of mine water. Freeze desalination has not been developed fully or commercially. For sea-water applications, it may not offer significant advantages over other methods of desalination but, for the unique mining application, a single dualpurpose plant that produces desalinated ice could offer significant cost savings over combinations of separate desalinators and ice-makers. The current status of freeze desalination is reviewed, and the important aspects relating to mines are discussed. Some freezing processes that could be suitably modilied are descriptionbed. The possible use of conventional ice-making machines for desalinating mine water is also discussed.