FEWA repeats order for UF pre-treatment from Pentair
Pentair X-Flow received an order from Aquatech Eastern (FZE) to supply Seaflex 55 ultrafiltration (UF) membranes and skids to the 15 MIGD (68,000 m³/day) Federal Electricity & Water Authority (FEWA) Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plant at Ghallilah, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
The plant, scheduled to be operational in late 2013, has an estimated UF permeate capacity of 7,125 m3/hr on a continuous basis.
Drinking water will be provided by the facility to the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. Owned by FEWA, the project will be executed by Aquatech Eastern (FZE) on a complete EPC basis including civil works, buildings, balance of plant, and electrical and mechanical installation.
The X-Flow UF membranes were selected to provide optimum pre-treatment for the RO membranes, with the aim of providing higher RO fluxes and reducing RO CIP frequency, said Pentair.
UF membranes at the FEWA SWRO plant will be installed with an inline configuration, which lowers energy consumption and helps avoid contamination as additional pumps and storage tanks are eliminated, acccording to the firm.
Also, operating costs are reduced as cartridge filters are not needed with this design.
Earlier this year, FEWA selected X-Flow UF membranes for the large-scale Al Zawrah SWRO plant in Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
Pentair said: "Ultrafiltration positively impacts all vital aspects of an SWRO plant, including providing consistent RO feed water quality, a significantly smaller plant design and reduced CAPEX."
Desalination plant in Sub-Saharan Africa opts for WEG motors
The 55,000 m3/day Trekkopje sea water desalination plant in Namibia has come online, designed and built by specialist water treatment firm, Keyplan, part of the Aveng Group.
The Trekkopje plant will convert seawater into potable water using ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis technology for use at an opencast uranium mine.
WEG Group provided motors for the facility, ranging from 18.5kW to 750kW and the scope of work included providing technical advice and supplying 62 WEG self- monitoring motors, ranging from 18.5kW to 750kW.
The 750 kW motors were fitted with soft starters while the remainder of the motors were combined with variable speed drives.
All motors were supplied with anti-corrosion coating because of the corrosive nature of the environment. The order follows WEG supplying motors to desalination projects in Algeria and Dubai.
Facility go-ahead could help Abu Dhabi shift to RO desalination
Abu Dhabi will be adding over 100,000 cubic metres of desalination capacity to its water network following a green light for a power and water plant extension at Mirfa.
The Khaleej Times reported that the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, chaired by General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, approved the 1500 megawatt power plant, which will also supply water.
The added capacity will upgrade the major power and desalination station at Mirfa, 160km west of the Abu Dhabi city.
While Mirfa desalination station B comprised the installation of three new 7.5 MGD multi stage flash (MSF) desalination units, it is thought the new water capacity will be provided through reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. In the Middl e East Abu Dhabi has been a long-term advocate of thermal desalination so a potential shift away to membrane desalination could eventually see water and power plants located separately.
Earlier this year the Emirate the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi announced it was two thirds of the way through a trial to construct 30 solar desalination plants.
Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, director general of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), reportedly said: "The project will satisfy the increasing demand for electricity, which is rising 11% annually."
Elsewhere in the Middle East, in Qatar the electricity and water producer QEWC (Qatar Electricity & Water Company) — also a historic user of thermal desalination — has tried RO technologies on a smaller scale. However thermal desalinated water continues to provide the majority of water supply.
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