HWANGE POWER STATION

AUGUST 2022 REPORT

01-31 August 2022

Dennis Tavonga Muzila

GRADUATE TRAINEE- ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Trainee: ____________________________ Date: __________________

Supervisor__________________________ Date: ___________________

Introduction
This report outlines the activities carried out by the trainee in the month of August 2022 and
explains key learning points.

Activities carried out

 Water Treatment plant overview
 Clarification
 Filtration
 Demin plant
 Reverse osmosis plant
 Regeneration of resins

Water Treatment Plant

At Hwange Power Station the sole source of water is the Zambezi River. The raw water is
transported from a Low Lift Pump Station to the settling tanks from where suction is taken to the
High Lift Pump Station. From High Lift pump station, the water is delivered to two Raw Water
3
Reservoirs of capacity 80,000m constructed on a hill adjacent to the Power Station. From the
two Reservoirs, pipeline goes to a Valve Pit. From the valve pit. Further supply from the valve
pit is also given to clarifier. From the Clarifier water goes to the sand filter into the filtered water
sump and is termed filtered water. The filtered water is further purified for domestic use by
chlorination or for the process plant which is the main plant by the demineralization plant or the
reverse osmosis plant.
Raw water coming from Zambezi River contains dissolved salts, colloidal matter and suspended
impurities. It is necessary to remove these harmful impurities in the water before feeding it to the
boiler. Water is a basic requirement for steam-generating power plants, and its availability and
quality are of primary importance. Water is used for a multitude of purposes in power plant
processes, including equipment cooling, maintenance cleaning, solids conveying, and as the
working fluid for the steam cycle. Proper treatment and conditioning of water to avoid scaling
and corrosion in modern, efficient high-pressure power cycles is imperative to avoid economic
losses caused by decreased production capability and increased operating costs. Water treatment
is any physical or chemical process that improves the usability of the water treated. Water is
treated because:

1. The deposition of dissolved salts and suspended impurities will form a scale on the inside wall
of different heat-exchangers and thus there will create excessive pressure and thermal stress (due
to uneven heat exchange across the wall of heat-exchanger) inside the heat-exchangers, which
may lead to the explosion and serious hazards for boilers.

2. The harmful dissolved salts may react with various parts of boiler through which it flows,
thereby corrode the surfaces.

3. Corrosion damage may occur to turbine blades.

During the pre -treatment process, the water goes to the clarifier and is then filtered.

Clarification
Clarification is the term used to compass coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation which are
involved in the removal of suspended and colloidal matter from water. Coagulation is the
process of destabilization by charge neutralization. Once neutralized, particles no longer repel
each other and can be brought together. Coagulation is necessary for the removal of the
colloidal-sized suspended matter. Flocculation is the process of bringing together the
destabilized, or "coagulated," particles to form a larger agglomeration, or "floc." Sedimentation
refers to the physical removal from suspension, or settling, that occurs once the particles have
been coagulated and flocculated. Sedimentation or subsidence alone, without prior coagulation,
results in the removal of only relatively coarse suspended solids.
The clarifier consists of a coagulation section designed to provide intimate mixing of the raw
water and aluminium sulphate/ferric chloride. It is provided with a sizeable stirrer to effect
charge neutralisation by ensuring proper mixing of reagent and water. The clarifier in use at HPS
is called the Hopper Bottom Sedimentation Clarifier. Raw water is fed at the bottom of the
clarifier into the central reaction chamber and at this stage is mixed with the added coagulant.
Following this stage, the mixture flows into the sludge concentrator. The mixture flows upwards
at a reducing velocity so that the floc sinks rapidly to the bottom. The sludge forms a cloudy-like
blanket suspension in the water which then traps other incoming flocs. The fluidised bed formed
by the accumulation of floc is the factor on which clarification efficiency is primarily dependent.
As the floc accumulates, the volume of the blanket rises and this then has to be controlled by
removing solids from the system by blow down via the collecting sludge baskets at the bottom of
the concentrator. The contact/retention time of water in the clarifier is around one hour and this
is particularly useful where adjustments in the in the rate of addition of chemicals have to be
made, since control can be more easily effected and in a shorter time.
 Figure showing a water clarifier

FILTRATION
Filtration is achieved by three Rapid Gravity Filters. Two are put in service while one is on
standby. During normal operation, water from the clarification stage should have a less than
5mg kg-1 suspended solids. Sand is the filter media used at HPS. At the floor, there are 15-
20mm pebbles which prevent the clogging of collector nozzles. Particle size progressively
decreases such that at the top of bed particle size is 1mm. In operation there is a progressive
increase in head loss across the unit as the trapped suspended solids clog up the bed. Backwash
with water and air is used to eliminate this. The filtered water flows by gravity to the filtered
water sump via the backwash water sump. The backwash sump fills first and overflows into the
filtered water sump. This ensures that backwash is always available. The level
control/transmitter in this combined sump regulates the flow acting inlet valve to the clarifier.
The demineralization plant at Hwange Power Station acts as a standby plant for the Reverse
Osmosis plant and also in some cases as a second plant to increase flow rate in cases where
Reverse Osmosis Plant throughput is low. The demineralization plant is subdivided into three
different sections that is the Cation resin bed ion exchange unit, Anion resin bed ion exchange
unit and Mixed Bed ion exchange unit which acts as a polisher. The degasser is also used in the
Demineralization plant for removal of carbon dioxide.
 Figure showing a rapid gravity filter

REVERSE OSMOSIS PLANT AND PROCESS DESCRIPTION

Reverse Osmosis is the reversal of this natural phenomenon, by the application of external
pressure on the solution that contains the higher concentration of dissolved ions, thus forcing
water through the semi-permeable membrane into the solution with a lower ionic concentration.
In the Reverse Osmosis process the water that passes through the membrane is commonly
referred to as permeate or product water and the water that remains behind the membrane along
with dissolved and suspended solids is referred to as the concentrate, brine or reject water. It is
impractical to convert all of the water product water for several reasons including the osmosis
pressure which develops as results of the concentration of the dissolved ions which accumulate
on one side of the membrane and the inability to keep the membrane free from suspended solids
that would foul the surface of the membrane if not removed.

The water from the filtered water sumps is pumped to the reverse osmosis plant via reverse
osmosis feed pumps. The flow of water is dosed with anti-scalant which prevents the fouling of
the membranes by the compounds in the water. The water is also dosed with sodium meta
bisulphate which reduces the positive redox potential in the water for optimum performance of
the reverse osmosis membranes.The water then flows into the cartridge filters in which
ultrafiltration takes place where the minute remaining suspended solids in the water are separated
from the water flow. There are two cartridge filters at the water treatment plant, one for each
reverse osmosis unit. Each cartridge filter contains 65 cartridges with a pore size of 5 microns.
This enables the cartridge filters to carry out ultrafiltration. Water from the cartridge filters then
flows into the high pressure pumps that create a discharge pressure of 12 bars that is necessary
for reverse osmosis. Each pressure vessel is made up of 5 spiral bound membrane modules
joined together axially in a polymer casing. Each casing has an inlet pipe, outlet pipe and
permeate pipe which join respective header pipes that lead to the main respective pipes.

The water is pumped to the first stage of membranes tubes and the permeate flows into the
permeate header. The reject from stage A of membrane tubes is the feed of the second stage B of
the membrane tubes. The reject from the second stage B of the membrane tubes is the feed into
the third and final stage C of membrane tubes where the final reject flows to waste. On a 24hr
service day around 1100m3 of concentrate is produced. RO permeate has a conductivity limit of
10 µS/cm and a silica limit of 1part per million. The concentrate usually has a conductivity of
around 350 µS /cm and total dissolve solids value that ranges from 150-200mg/l. This multistage
system is to ensure as much water molecules are separated from the raw water and increase
efficiency of the reverse osmosis system. The reverse osmosis unit has a turnover of 80%. The
inlet flow rate is 226m3/hr and the permeate flow rate is 181m 3/hr. When the permeate flowrate
decreases to 80% of the expected value and when the water quality exceeds specified limits, the
RO unit is rendered exhausted and is shut down for cleaning purposes and the other RO unit is
put in service.

Permeate from the reverse osmosis unit flows into the degasser tower where dissolved gases are
removed from the process water. Water from the degasser tower flows into a degasser sump
situated beneath the tower by gravity. From the degassed water sump the water is pumped via
Mixed Bed Feed pumps to the Mixed Bed ion exchange reactors in which final ion exchange
takes place. The two MB columns contain 650kg of INDION 225® cation and anion GS300
resins thoroughly mixed to ensure efficient ion exchange. They operate in a very similar way to
those used in the older demineralization plant. Minor differences exist in the regeneration
process.in this setup both regeneration chemicals sulphuric acid and caustic soda are injected at
the same time, with the resin separated. The effluent exits through a common header hence there
is automatic neutralization of effluent. This part of the plant is the polishing stage of the reverse
osmosis plant where remaining cat ions and anions are removed from in the RO unit permeate
solution.

Thus the resultant product is OH- + H+ H2O (pure water)

The final product water then flows to the RFW tanks. The water from the mixed bed reactor has
a conductivity of 0.5µS/cm and a silica content of less than or equal to 20 ppb.

Demineralization Plant
Below is a diagram showing the process flow diagram for the demineralization plant at the water

treatment plant.

Figure showing the demineralization plant

Process Description

Cation Resin Bed ion exchange reactor

Water is pumped from the filtered water sump by two centrifugal pumps into the cation column
containing 400-450kg strongly acidic cation resin (DOW44) at a flowrate of 180m3/hr. The
cation unit is the unit that removes these positively charged ions in water by the use of a cation
resin. The common ions in raw water are; Calcium (Ca2+), Magnesium (Mg2+), Sodium (Na+) ,
Potassium (K+). This resin, which is in the hydrogen form replaces the cations in the solution by
hydrogen ions. The ions get adsorbed to the resin surface thereby releasing the hydrogen ion into
solution. The resin must be periodically regenerated to restore it to the original ionic form using
either hydrochloric acid or sulphuric acid. The H+ ions are key in that they replace the cations in
the water and the cations bond with the resin. With time the resin becomes exhausted in that the
active sites
For the bonding of cations with resin become exhausted. This means the resin cannot react with
any more cations. This occurrence is shown by the increased conductivity of the output water
from the cation bed exchanger.

Degasser unit
A degasser unit consists of a degasser tower and a degassed water sump that lies beneath it as
shown in the diagram. Incoming water from the Cation unit is sprayed into the tower filled with
packing material. The drops of water that flow down through the tower strike the packing
material and form a thin film on the packing material surface, encouraging the release of excess
carbon dioxide. A centrifugal fan creates an updraft of air through the tower to carry away the
released carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide gas exits through a vent at the top of the unit.

Anion Resin Bed ion exchange reactor

The anion exchanger removes the anions that are in the water that also contribute to the
formation of scale, and also corrosion. The common anions in raw water are bicarbonates
(HCO3-), nitrate (NO3-), carbonates (CO32-). Water from the cation unit is then passed through a
strong base anion exchange resin in the hydroxide form. The resin exchanges hydrogen ions for
both highly ionized mineral ions and the more weakly ionized carbonic and silicic acids. With
time the anion resin gets exhausted as well as these active sites become depleted after which the
bed is regenerated using caustic soda to replenish the resins with OH- ions.

Mixed Bed ion exchange unit

The mixed bed exchanger is a unit that contains both anion and cation resin. This acts as a
polisher to remove any trace amounts of cat ions and anions from the water. The reactions that
take place in this exchanger are the same as the ones in the cat ion and anion units.

Regeneration of the Resins

When an ion exchange unit is exhausted, the resin must be regenerated. Monitoring of the
effluent hardness by measuring the conductivity and silica concentration reveals resin
exhaustion. When any controlled parameter exceeds the acceptable stream outlet limit, the unit is
said to be exhausted and the unit should be regenerated. Exhaustion is an indication of saturation
of the resins such that ion exchange can no longer take place and ion leakage takes place from
the reactor. The
regeneration is the reintroduction of the H+ ions in case of cation resin and OH- ions in case of
anion resin at high concentrations thereby shifting the equilibrium towards the reverse reaction
of ion exchange

Regeneration requirement indicators

The following conditions indicate the need for regenerating the ion exchange resin bed reactors.
Regeneration requirement indicators

Unit Conductivity(µS/cm) Silica content(ppm) EMA

Mixed Bed >0.5 >0.02 -

Anion Resin Bed >10 >0.5 -

Cation Resin Bed >300 - <18 OR >36