Abstract
The objective of this paper was to examine the interaction between brine discharge and catch-ment water of a desalination plant in Tenes Algeria using a modelling study under various hydro-dynamic conditions. Simulations were performed with a CORMIX code for different scenarios related to the variations of natural conditions such as meteorological as well as the speed and direction of wind and current. To better exploit the results of the simulations and for a good vis-ibility of the propagation of the brine discharge in the marine environment, three velocity cases were plotted (favorable, intermediate, and unfavorable), the planes of the plume in space (x, y) on QGIS3.16 .18, considering the position of the water intake point. A considerable increase in salin-ity, which sometimes exceeded 42 g/L, was noted in the catchment supply water at the desalination plant due to insufficient dilution of the brine plume. According to the simulation results obtained under the worst conditions. It was suggested to increase the distance between the capture point and the discharge point from 290 m to at least 500 m, by shifting the coordinates of the current cap-ture point west. Based on simulations the dilution results were very promising with the excess concentration dropping from 6 to 1.8 g/L at the catchment point. Modifications to the system were recommended to improve its efficiency, even under unfavorable conditions.