A new approach to meet the growing demand of professional training for the operating and management staff of desalination plants

Regulatory challenges of Palestinian strategies on distribution of desalinated water

Regulatory challenges of Palestinian strategies on distribution of desalinated water

Across the globe and since the dawn of civilization, fresh water resources have been a major economic, environmental and political issue that affect human welfare and progress. Today, the desalination industry is experiencing rapid growth across the globe; unfortunately, the industry lacks several key elements that should make this expansion more efficient, more profitable to the owner, less expensive to the consumer and with limited impact on the environment. These elements include development of codes and standards for various desalination activities and having integral training programmes for qualifying the manpower. This study focuses on evaluating the training programme adopted since 1994 in the Doha West desalination and power plant. Further development of the plant manpower is achieved through short course training on various topics related to design, operation and maintenance of desalination and power plants. Evaluation of the training programme is presented in terms of various operating parameters, which include plant availability, production efficiency, performance ratio, specific manpower and specific consumption of cleaning acid and balls. Results show drastic enhancement in plant performance, where availability increased to 80% and production efficiency is close to 100%. Also, the plant performance ratio remains at values close to clean operation for more than half of the operating time. The specific manpower shows continuous decline because of the increase in the production efficiency and elimination of unnecessary overhead costs. Operation policy focused on increasing the use of on-line ball cleaning and reducing the frequency of acid cleaning. This is advantageous, since acid cleaning promotes metal corrosion, while on-line ball cleaning has negligible effect on the integrity of the preheater tubes.

Operating expenses (OPEX) for a seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant result primarily from energy use, membrane cleaning, and maintenance, all of which are influenced by RO membrane performance. Desalination plant operators can reduce energy consumption and increase water output by cleaning membranes more frequently or replacing aging RO membranes; however, doing so increases cleaning and maintenance costs. In addition, such actions may not improve overall OPEX of the desalination plant. This article evaluates how membrane element replacement and cleaning strategies affect OPEX generally and the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant specifically.

Impact of seawater desalination and wastewater treatment on water stress levels and greenhouse gas emissions: The case of Chile

Seawater intake and pre-treatment/brine discharge — environmental issues

Water scarcity is a global issue that has extreme effects on conflict zones in particular. Therefore, seawater desalination provided a practical solution to reduce the problem. The Gaza Strip suffers from potable water scarcity due to groundwater contamination and the deterioration of the coastal aquifers. Thereby, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) had constructed three seawater desalination plants (SDP’s) in addition to purchasing potable water from the Israeli company (Mekorot). Due to the importance of the SDP’s, a flexible and comprehensive management system is required to ensure the sustainability of the performance. Thereby, this study aims to assess the potentiality of applying the Integrated Management System (IMS) in seawater desalination plants. This study used data collected from reports, questionnaires, and interviews, which is then analysed statistically, in order to identify the effects and barriers of applying the IMS in seawater desalination plants. The data also was used in SWOT analysis to formulate strategies for applying the IMS. The reports showed that the physicochemical water quality of samples from seawater desalination plants is compatible with PWA and WHO standards. The results from the questionnaire showed that there are positive impacts of applying the IMS on the performance of the desalination plants in terms of the financial, administrative, technical, environmental, and socio-economic aspects. However, the study identified 12 barriers which were analysed through SWOT analysis to formulate strategies to facilitate the implementation of the IMS. The highest priority and most applicable strategy is the formation of a partnership with the UN institutions to obtain international protection and facilitate the entry of the required materials.

Seawater desalination plants influents and effluents analysis in Libya

Operation of MEFF desalination plant (multiple effect falling film process)

해수담수화 플랜트 시장 진출 유망 국가 분석을 위한 지수를 개발하였고 이를 위해서 관련된 자료를 수집하고 분석하였다. 자료의 특성상 국가별로 편차가 커 스케일 재조정 방법을 통해 각 지표별로 표준화를 실시하였고, 해수담수화 플랜트에 대한 전문가들을 대상으로 Delphi 기법을 통한 설문 조사를 통해 가중치를 결정하였다. 총 23개의 지표를 3가지 요소로 나누어 각각의 항목별로 가중치를 결정하였으며, 사우디아라비아, UAE, 쿠웨이트, 이란, 카타르, 중국, 싱가포르, 인도, 알제리, 터키, 미국 등 11개 국가, 즉 해수담수화 플랜트 해외 시장 유망 국가들에 대해서 지수를 산정하였다. 산정된 지수를 비교하였을 때 미국이 0.537, 중국이 0.490, 사우디아라비아가 0.329로 나타났다. 현지 사정을 고려하였을 때는 미국과 중국은 해외 시장 진출을 하는데 많은 어려움이 있을 수 있지만 그 외에 국가에 대해서는 본 연구의 결과를 바탕으로 전략적으로 시장 진출을 도모하는데 도움이 될 것으로 판단된다. An index was developed for analyzing the promising countries for seawater desalination plant and related data sets were collected and analyzed. Each indicators was standardized by scale readjustment method and Delphi method was used to calculate the weights for indicators from questionnaire survey by experts in seawater desalination plant field. Twenty three indicators were selected and they were classified into three groups, economic, social, and environmental indicator groups. Eleven countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Iran, Qatar, China, Singapore, India, Algeria, Turkey, United States) were selected considering present data availability and index for each country was calculated. The results show United States and China took the first (0.537) and second (0.490) place for the most promising country for seawater desalination plant. However it will not be easy to play a significant role in the markets because of present seawater desalination technology level and national policy, etc. Saudi Arabia took the third (0.329) place and other countries which has more than 0.2 index value can be considered as a promising countries for seawater desalination plant. We can establish a strategy to export our seawater desalination technology and plant using the result of this study. The developed index can be applied to other countries, which were not included in this study, when their data is available.

An intensive vascular surgical skills and simulation course for vascular trainees improves procedural knowledge and self-rated procedural competence

Performance characteristics of a cyclically operated seawater desalination plant in Tajoura, Libya

Parts of the USA are facing impending shortages of freshwater. One proposed solution is the construction of desalination plants to turn seawater into freshwater. Although seawater desalination plants are widely used in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, there are few desalination plants in the USA. In 2003, Tampa Bay Water built the largest desalination plant in North America. Persistent operating problems and escalating costs have caused the utility to re-evaluate its reliance on the seawater desalination plant as part of a long-term regional water supply strategy. In addition, environmental effects of the plant are uncertain. Advances in reverse osmosis technology have significantly reduced desalination costs. However, desalination of seawater is still more expensive than other freshwater supply sources and demand management measures. With time and research, seawater desalination may prove to be a sustainable, cost-effective source of new freshwater supplies, especially if plants are coupled with renewable energy sources. Until then, the development of small-scale groundwater desalination plants, the re-use of water, water conservation, and a more efficient allocation of water through higher prices and rising block rates will be important strategies in meeting growing water demand. Moreover, it is important to improve the coordination between water supply planning and land use planning as populations continue to increase.

Hybrid systems in seawater desalination-practical design aspects, status and development perspectives

Optimizing desalinated sea water blending with other sources to meet magnesium requirements for potable and irrigation waters