SINGAPORE, Jan. 29, 2008 -- CH2M HILL, a global full-service engineering, construction and operations firm, launched PowerSeraya Ltd.'s new Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Desalination plant at the official opening ceremony today.
The facility, engineered, procured and constructed (EPC) by CH2M HILL, is the world's first full-scale seawater desalination plant to use large-diameter SWRO membrane technology. Located on the petrochemical hub of Jurong Island in Singapore, the project was successfully delivered by CH2M HILL as the EPC contractor, over a fast-track schedule of 18 months, from contract signing to plant handover. The SWRO plant uses 16-inch diameter membrane elements, instead of the current industry standard of 8-inch diameter -- resulting in significant capital and operating cost savings to PowerSeraya.
"Because of PowerSeraya's forward thinking, CH2M HILL had the latitude to pursue a very innovative solution to expand the water capability, business portfolio, and experience of PowerSeraya in seawater desalination," said CH2M HILL President and Group Chief Executive, International Tom Searle. "Today we celebrate a milestone for PowerSeraya, CH2M HILL, and yet another significant achievement for the nation of Singapore. I'm proud of the role CH2M HILL played in helping PowerSeraya pursue its vision to be the leading integrated energy company in Singapore, and beyond. "
"In pursuing our renewables strategy, we required a very innovative solution to integrate our heat, water and power processes to create an intelligent, virtuous cycle of electricity, steam and water generation," said Neil McGregor, PowerSeraya's managing director. "CH2M HILL understood the real value of this partnership, took on the challenge, and created the world's first full-scale SWRO. With this new capability, if a water market was to evolve on Jurong Island, or in Singapore in the future, we look forward to work with CH2M HILL to expand our operations."
The new SWRO desalination plant is of 10,000 m³/day (2.64 mgd) capacity, and produces two customized grades of water: high-grade service water used for power production, and potable drinking water. CH2M HILL achieved significant cost savings for the project by utilizing the power plant's existing infrastructure of cooling water intake, discharge outfalls and on-site storage tanks. The project was completed without a single Lost Time Incident over the 300,000 man-hours required for construction, commissioning, and operation.
"This project is a significant milestone for PowerSeraya and CH2M HILL," said Lisa Henthorne, CH2M HILL's Global Director of Desalination Technology and International Desalination Association (IDA) President. "With the successful delivery of this project, CH2M HILL has established itself as the market leader in the design and construction of large diameter seawater desalination plants. This project represents a significant achievement for the desalination industry, as it is the first commercial-scale application of the large diameter SWRO technology. We look forward to continuing our partnership with PowerSeraya in future projects."
The desalination plant features granular media filtration pretreatment and a two-pass SWRO system. CH2M HILL selected an innovative SWRO technology, supplied by GrahamTek, for the new SWRO desalination plant. The GrahamTek technology uses 16-inch spiral wound reverse osmosis elements incorporated with an integrated flow distributor and electromagnetic field device. Advantages of this technology include a reduced footprint and capability to operate at higher flow rates of about 1.5 times that of conventional SWRO technologies -- resulting in lower capital and operating costs.
Headquartered in Denver, Colo., employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in engineering, construction and operations for public and private clients.
With a licensed generating capacity of 3100MW, PowerSeraya is one of Singapore's largest electricity generators, supplying about 30% of the country's energy needs.
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