Minimize the negative impact of oil contamination on Abu Dhabi power and desalination plants

Oil spill modeling is a powerful tool that can be used for predicting the trajectory and concentration of an oil spill in contingency event. The National Energy and Water Research Center (NEWRC) of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority is developing early oil spill warning system for all Abu Dhabi power and desalination plants. The oil spill warning system enables the NEWRC to give early warning signal to plant, which may be threatened by an oil contamination. The Particle Tracking Module (PART) of Delft3D software package of Delft Hydraulics, The Netherlands is used in the setup of the oil spill warning system. This study shows the procedures that were followed to setup the oil spill warning system for one of the largest power and desalination plant in Abu Dhabi Emirate, which is Shwueihat Plant. The oil spill modeling can be used to determine the potential risk of oil contamination at the seawater intake of the plant due to the oil released from any possible oil sources. Case study is presented in the paper to demonstrate the use of the oil spill modeling to predict the trajectory and concentration of the oil slick released from oil source near the Shwueihat Power and Desalination Plant.

Oil spill modeling is a powerful tool that can be used for predicting the trajectory and concentration of an oil spill. Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) uses oil spill modeling to give a warning signal to power and desalination plants that may be affected by an oil spill. An oil spill warning system in Abu Dhabi was setup using the PART module of Delft3D software package of WLldelft hydraulics. This warning system enables the prediction of the transport and concentration of an oil contaminant during contingency events. The flow conditions during the oil release and prediction period are also modeled and results obtained from the relevant numerical hydrodynamic models of Delft3D. Wind conditions during and after the oil release are important for the oil contaminant transport and are introduced in the oil spill model. This paper shows the procedures that we used to setup the oil spill warning system in Abu Dhabi. Also, a case study for an actual oil spill event was modeled and is presented.

Corrosion experience data bank system for desalination and power plants (corex)

Mirfa Power and Desalination Plant is one of the main plants in Abu Dhabi Emirate. It is located at the Arabian Gulf coast. The plant is vulnerable to oil pollution because oil fields, offshore pipelines and refineries are located close to it. A risk analysis study was carried out to determine the trajectory and horizontal spread of oil slick released from different locations. The results give the potential risks of oil pollution at the seawater intake in terms of oil slick concentrations and properties. The study helps in the setup of effective oil protection measures at the plant intake channel.

Oil Spills: Law on Liability with Special Reference to the Indian Regime

The catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) system usually moored a heavy oil tanker; due to its complex working mechanism and special working environment, oil spill accidents are easy to happen. Once the oil spill accident happens, it not only causes huge economic loss, but also kills the marine ecological environment. Oil spill trajectory model considers almost all weathering processes including evaporation, emulsification, dispersion, dissolution, photooxidation, sedimentation, and biodegradation. Model simulations indicated that both tidal currents and wind drag force have significant effect in oil spill movement. The dominant wind in the area is South-westerly wind during the summer monsoon and North-easterly wind during the winter monsoon, but South-westerly wind is far stronger and last longer than the North-easterly wind. As a result, oil spill trajectory is most likely towards offshore to North-east during the summer period (April to September). During the winter period (November–January), oil spill would move towards shore under North-westerly winds. Once oil reaches shore, it would stay at shore permanently and eventually sink to seabed or beach in the simulation. Although the model does not consider longshore drift by waves, oil movement along shore by waves would be a slow process. Therefore, the impact of oil spill during the winter monsoon would be limited to local area around Ras Markaz.

Trajectory and weathering of oil spill in Daya bay, the South China sea

Power and desalination plants are very important in the Arabian Gulf region to provide water and electricity. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates has a number of power and desalination plants. One of these plants is Umm Al Nar plant. It is located inside a lagoon north of Abu Dhabi Island, which is the North Lagoon. Hydrodynamic study was carried out to investigate the impact of constructing a temporary closure dam in the tidal water near the plant intake on the flow pattern and the recirculation of effluent discharges from the outfall to the intake of the plant. The effect of the proposed dam on the mangroves in the vicinity of the plant was investigated. Two dimension hydrodynamic numerical flow model simulates the study area was used in the study. The hydrodynamic and environmental impact of the proposed dam was evaluated by comparing the results of the model computations with and without the dam simulation.

Design features of seawater intake, distribution and outfall Systems, applied to the ruwais utilities complex, Abu Dhabi

Design features of seawater intake, distribution and outfall systems, applied to the Ruwais utilities complex, Abu Dhabi

Fuel efficiencies, allocation of fuels and fuel costs for power and desalination in dual purpose plants: A novel methodology

Energy and water without carbon: Integrated desalination and nuclear power at Diablo Canyon

Combating oil spill accidents in Northeast Asia: A case of the NOWPAP and Hebei Spirit oil spill

Seawater desalination has become a vital technology to address water demand in many coastal countries, its safe and efficient operation has become a crucial concern. Desalination facilities are susceptible to the quality of feed water, which is affected by several variables, such as raw seawater quality, seawater intake methods, and onshore pretreatment technologies. Oil and gas continue to be major commodities that are produced and transported globally. There is high risk of oil spills. Historically, severe desalination plant shutdowns have happened because of oil spills. Current oil spill response measures were developed to mitigate the impact of oil spills on maritime environment rather than prevent desalination shutdown. The drinking water storage for many countries in Gulf region last only a few days, which underscores the vital importance to use all available technologies to remove oil contaminants rapidly and effectively from seawater during oil spills and avoid exhausting the limited water stock. This article comprehensively reviewed the applicability and limitation of various oil-removing technologies from three aspects: offshore oil spill cleanup, seawater intake, and onshore pretreatment. An integrated solution based on all the aspects is required to robustly safeguard seawater quality and prevent desalination plant shutdown in the event of oil spills.

The members of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf have typically addressed water scarcity problems by building energy-intensive desalination plants. Few efforts have addressed water scarcity through metering, pricing, and other efficiency measures to reduce demand. This paper examines how decreased leakage in the water distribution system and decreased residential water use in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, could decrease air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from desalination plants. We developed a probabilistic model to predict the effects of water use reductions on pollutant emissions from Abu Dhabi's major independent water and power plants, which use a combination of multi-stage flash distillation and multi-effect distillation to produce fresh water from seawater drawn from the Arabian Gulf. We examine three categories of scenarios for reducing water use: increasing the price signal to residential users, instituting demand management programs among residential users, and reducing water loss in the distribution system. Our analysis suggests that water conservation price incentives could reduce air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions by 1% to 5%, depending on assumptions about how households respond to the incentives. Demand-side management programs curbing per capita water use to levels typical of the Singapore or the UK would curb emissions by 10% or 11%, respectively. Reducing water loss during distribution from the current high level of 35% to 15% (similar to loss rates in other developed nations) could cut emissions by more than 3%. Overall, our analysis suggests that high per capita water use contributes to ambient air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Abu Dhabi.