GRUNDFOS DESALINATION

Manual

GRUNDFOS
DESALINATION
MANUAL

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 Contents

Introduction .........................................................................................5
1. Desalination methods ......................................................................7
a. Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) desalination ..........................................................7
b. Multiple Effect Desalination (MED) ..............................................................9
c. Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination ............................................................. 10
d. Cost comparison ................................................................................................. 11
2. How Reverse Osmosis (RO) works ...................................................13
a. Spiral wound module ...................................................................................... 14
b. Energy recovery ................................................................................................... 18
c. An example of possible power savings .................................................... 20
3. Water intake ..................................................................................25
a. Beach wells............................................................................................................ 25
4. Intake water treatment ..................................................................27
a. Nanofiltration ...................................................................................................... 28
b. Chlorine .................................................................................................................. 29
5. Brine discharge...............................................................................31
6. Permeate treatment and distribution.............................................33
a. Distribution ........................................................................................................... 33
7. Control systems and water quality control .....................................35
8. Product chart..................................................................................38

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 Contents Desalination Manual

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 INTRODUCTION

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 Introduction Desalination Manual

Introduction

Why desalination and water treatment?
Pure water (H2O) is a colourless, odourless and
tasteless liquid. It plays a huge part in everyday
life: 70 % of the earth’s surface is covered by
water in the form of oceans, and the rest of the
planet has large quantities of water in the form
of lakes, rivers and watercourses, ice and snow,
and humidity, as well as the principal element
of animal life (> 50 %) and plants (approximately
80 %).
When we talk about water in general, we usually
mean water for some specific purpose, such as
drinking water or process water for industry. This
is where the term water treatment enters the
picture, because the available water resources
provided by nature are not always of a suitable
quality for immediate use for the specific
purpose.
Almost one-fifth of the world’s population lives
However, desalination offers a potential solution.
Desalination is the process used to convert
salt water (seawater, brackish water or saline
groundwater) to fresh water so it is suitable
for human consumption or use. Most interest
in desalination today is focused on developing
cost-effective ways of providing fresh water for
human use in regions where the availability
of fresh water is, or is becoming, limited.
Desalinated water is also used on many seagoing
ships and submarines.
Large-scale desalination typically uses extremely
large amounts of energy as well as specialised
infrastructure, making it costly comparable
to the use of fresh water from rivers or
groundwater wells.
Rain clouds

in areas where freshwater is a physical scarcity.

However, for those living in coastal areas, the
ocean offers a sustainable alternative.
Precipitation
Transpiration
Drinking water must be pure, and should Evaporation
preferably taste good too. It must not contain
substances that could cause problems with daily
use. Process water, which is water that forms a
Ocean
direct and important part of a process or product Soil
in industry, must have a chemical composition
Ground water
and temperature that is precisely suited to the
specific requirements. Thermal desalination is best known from nature’s
own processes in the water cycle
Water availability
With water scarcity increasing, and we
increasingly face the consequences of uneven
global water usage and rapidly depleting
natural water resources. With growing
populations, a rising middle class and booming
industrialisation, the expectation is that world
water consumption will increase substantially
in the future. Only 3 % of all water on earth
is freshwater and accessing these reserves is
sometimes neither practical nor desirable.

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 DESALINATION
METHODS

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 Desalination Methods Desalination Manual

1. Desalination methods

There are different ways to desalinate seawater, excess heat is available from, for example, an oil
and these vary in cost and efficiency, depending or coal heated electric power plant. The Middle
on the purpose. This is a technology-heavy field East has the majority of thermal desalination
in constant development, as attempts are made plants in use today.
to keep costs down, increase efficiency and en-
sure the sustainability of the solution, including
a. Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) desalination
reducing environmental impact.
Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) desalination is the
most common process for turning seawater into
The most common and immediately apparent
drinking water. The process uses the excess heat
desalination process is thermal desalination,
from big thermal power plants. This process is
where seawater (salt water) evaporates and the
widely used in the Middle East.
vapour condenses to clean water.
For producing drinking water, thermal desalina-
Capacity is 200,000 to 800,000 m3/day.
tion uses excess heat and often used where

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 How MSF works
MSF distillation is based on condensing
low-pressure steam as a heat source for the
evaporation of seawater. It is still considered the
simplest and most common technique in use.
The technique is based on passing seawater
through long, closed pipes passing through a
series of flash chambers where hot seawater
allows flashing along the bottom of the
chambers. Vapor from the flash chambers heat
the feed water flowing in the pipes. More heat
is added in order to increase the temperature of
the feed water to the initial high temperature,
around 110 oC. This is done with the use of low
pressure steam, usually taken from a back-
pressure turbine in a power station. The vapor
condenses on the heating pipes and is pumped
out as product. Usually, the concentrated brine is
recycled with the feed to improve recovery ratio.
Part of it is pumped out to sea.
The energy that makes possible the evaporation
is present in the brine as it leaves the
heater. There is a good reason for letting the
evaporation happen in multiple stages rather
than a single stage at the lowest pressure
Heating steam
T=112°C
Condensate return
9069_BM_BMET_manual_2016.indd 8
and temperature. In a single stage, the feed
water would only warm to an intermediate
temperature between the inlet temperature and
the heater, while much of the steam would not
condense and the stage would not maintain the
lowest pressure and temperature. Such plants
can operate at 23-27 kWh/m3 (approximately 90
MJ/m3) of distilled water.
Because the colder salt water entering
the process ‘counter flows’ with the saline
wastewater/distilled water, relatively little heat
energy leaves in the outflow; most of the heat
is picked up by the colder saline water flowing
toward the heater and the energy is recycled.
In addition, MSF distillation plants, especially
large ones, are often paired with a power plant
configuration. Waste heat from the power plant
is used to heat the seawater, providing cooling
for the power plant at the same time. This
reduces the energy needed by half to two-thirds,
which drastically alters the economics of the
plant, since energy is by far the largest operating
cost of MSF plants.
Air extraction
Sea water
Brine
Distillate
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 Desalination Methods Desalination Manual

b. Multiple Effect Desalination (MED)

Multiple Effect Desalination (MED) is used in
smaller sized thermal power plants or other
plants with excess heat available.

Capacity is 2000 to 200,000 m3/day.

First Second No. 3

effect effect effect
Vapor Vapor Vapor

Steam 110°C 100°C 50°C Condensator

Feed
Condensate 120°C 110°C 60°C

Liquid Liquid

Concentrate Distillate

How MED works

Consider the plant as a sequence of closed spaces
separated by tube walls, with a heat source at
one end and a heat sink at the other end.

Each space has a lower temperature and pressure

than the previous space. If the pressure is too low
or the temperature too high in the first subspace,
the water evaporates. In the second subspace, the
pressure is too high or the temperature too low
and the vapour condenses. This carries evaporation
energy from the warmer first subspace to the
colder second subspace and so on.

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 c. Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination
Increasingly, Reverse Osmosis (RO) is becoming
the preferred technology for desalination.

RO is in many ways the heart of desalination.

Here, high-pressure pumps force the seawater
through semipermeable membranes to separate
the water molecules from the larger salt
molecules. The membranes allow a permeate
of water to pass through the system, while
expelling a salt concentration called brine.

See Section 2, page 13 for an in-depth look at

how RO works.

A typical RO installation

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d. Cost comparison
Currently, the best performing membrane
desalination plants achieve energy consumption
in the region of 3.8-4.2 kWh/m3. This includes
both the pretreatment process and the RO
process. The Affordable Desalination Coalition
has demonstrated that it is possible to
deliver the SWRO process alone (i.e. without
pretreatment and other pumping processes)
for 1.58 kWh/m3. Thermal desalination plants
may use up to 18 kWh/m3. The electrical power
consumption of an MSF plant is around 3.5
kWh/m3, even before the water is heated for
steam.In the figure on the right are shown the
relative operating costs of the main desalinatin
processes. Obviously, energy represents the main
operating cost of a desalination plant and
the cost is depending on local electricity prices.
The capital cost of desalination plants varies
according to a number of site-specific issues, as
well as the technologies used. E.g. the low bid
that the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority
received for its Hassyan P1 Station in 2008, which
uses MSF technology. And a high prices paid for
the Australian desalination plants reflect the
Cost with relative to RO
Cost component MSF MED
Capital
120 114
investment
Energy related
215 175
costs
Membrane
--- ---
replacement
Other remaining
103 89
costs
Overall product
114 109
cost
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Desalination Methods Desalination Manual
fact that the environmental standards required
for desalination are very high, and the plants
themselves involve complex intakes and outfalls.
In the Unites States, RO desalination is expected
to become expensive for similar reasons.
Relative operating costs of the main
desalination processes
To work out the capital cost of recent SWRO
desalination plants, as a rule of thumb the
current capex figure for an RO project (without
site-specific complications) might be USD 1,100/
m3/d, while an MED project might come in
at USD 1,500/m3/d, and an MSF plant at USD
1,800/m3/d. The latter two figures are highly
dependent on commodities prices – there is
little recent data available to confirm the current
state of the EPC (engineering, procurement and
construction) market.
The following chart illustrates the breakdown of
the capital costs of the three main desalination
processes:
MVC RO
118 100
140 100
--- 100
100 100
107 100
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 HOW REVERSE
OSMOSIS (RO) WORKS

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 Reverse osmosis Desalination Manual

2. How Reverse Osmosis (RO) works

Osmosis is the natural tendency of water with a
low concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS)
to travel through a semi-permeable membrane
into a solution of higher TDS in order to balance
the solute levels on both sides of the membrane.
The illustrations below illustrate how the water
molecules from the low TDS solution migrate
through the semi-permeable membrane
into the high TDS solution to equalise the
concentration levels on both sides. As more
water molecules travel through the membrane,
the fluid level in each chamber changes. Once
the TDS concentrations in both chambers have
reached equilibrium, the osmotic process stops,
as enough pressure has built up to stop the flow
of water from one chamber to the other. This
pressure is known as osmotic pressure.

Chamber with Chamber with Equilbrium - TDS is balanced

high TDS low TDS across with chambers

Applied
pressure
Reverse Osmosis is a process where pressure
greater than the natural osmotic pressure is
applied on the high concentration side of the
membrane, forcing the water to travel through
the membrane from the higher TDS to lower TDS
chamber, thus ‘reversing’ the natural tendency of
water flow.

Reverse osmosis membranes used in

desalination operate on this principle, to
draw fresh water through a semi-permeable
membrane from high TDS solutions such as
seawater, brackish water, industrial effluent and
other sources.

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 Seal ring between module and pressure vessel
Perforation in central pipe
7 8

2 Outlet for concentrate

3 Outlet for permeate
2 Outlet for concentrate

1
9 Concentrate spacer
Inlet for raw water 10 Membrane
4
11 Permeate spacer
Flow direction for
raw water 10 Membrane
5
9 Concentrate spacer
Flow direction for permeate
12 Glue joint of "envelope"

6
External housing

Cross section of spiral wound module

a. Spiral wound module now resembles a rolled carpet. Finally, a tubular

The spiral wound module is the dominant
module available in the drinking water market,
and the most widely used module type.
The structure is substantially more complicated
than other types. The filter consists of a large
‘envelope’, which is glued tightly together along
three edges, with a porous mesh, ‘the letter’,
inside, and with the actual membrane surface
on the two external sides of the envelope. A
mat, ‘spacer’, of open mesh is on top of the
envelope. Another envelope and another mat
then follow, and so on. Each of the open ends of
the envelope is glued to a perforated tube, the
permeate tube, so that the openings are right
against the rows of perforation. All the layers are
then rolled up around the permeate tube, which
housing cover, the supporting sleeve, is placed
around the whole ‘carpet’.
Modules are installed in series of up to seven in a
pressure tube, the ‘pressure vessel’. This is crucial
to ensure the modules withstand the often very
high system pressure.
During operation, the raw water is directed
into the end of the module and flows axially
through the module through the above-
mentioned spacers. The permeate penetrates
the membranes and enters the spacers inside
the ‘envelopes’, where it flows in a spiral until it
reaches the central permeate pipe, from which
the permeate can be drained from the ends.

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 Reverse osmosis Desalination Manual

Feed
Permeate

Drain
Pressure vessel for ‘spiral wound’ modules Holes
Down

Electron Microscopy Optical Microscopy Visible to Naked Eye

Macro Molecular
Ionic Range Molecular Range Range Micro Particle Range Macro Particle Range
Micrometers 10-3 10-2 10-1 10 100

Angstrom 10 102 103 104 105 106

Mol. Wt.range 100 200 1000 10000 20000 100000 500000

Latex Emulsions
Oil Emulsions
Sugars Carbon Black Point Pigment
Endotoxins (Pyrogen) Yeast Cells
Virus Bacteria
Soluble Salts
(Ions) Mycoplasm
Red
Colloids Blood Ceels Sand

Metal Ions Proteins / Enzymes Human Hair

Reverse Osmosis Microfiltration

Nanofiltration
Ultrafiltration Particle filtration

Note: 1 Angstrom Unit = 10-10 Meters = 10-4 Micrometers (Microns)

The table shows the different filtration processes according to the relative size of the particle retained

The particle filtration can be achieved with a lot of different technologies, each of them suitable for
different requirements. The filtration of particles of size less than a micrometer is achieved with the use of
membrane filtration, which is a type of filtration over a support.

Membranes is a special type of filtration on support. Relatively thin sheets or thin fibers with an ultrathin
surface layer where the filtration/retention of particles and other pollutants take place. A "filter cake" of
pollutants is build outside the filter during operation, and regeneration of the filter is therefore much
easier and with less water waste. For this reason membrane filters have showed a tremendously fast
growth in market shares on the water purification markets recently.

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 Membrane cleaning
Reverse Osmosis membranes must be rinsed
and chemically cleaned periodically, when
stopped or when performance decreases by
10-15 %.
Seawater flows tangentially along the
membrane, creating a salt concentration
gradient along the membrane's length, where
the last element has the most concentrated
brine bulk.
Normalised values take into account
temperature and salinity variations in feed
water.
In order to ease chronic cleaning, our systems
can be equipped with Cleaning In Place (CIP)
station, readily connected to the membranes
rack.

When the RO is stopped or in stand-by, natural
osmosis will happen between the permeate
side and the concentrate side containing
high salinity brine. This can damage the feed
spacers by creating a vacuum in the permeate
line, as water will naturally flow back to the
concentrate side, driven by osmotic pressure.
To avoid this natural damaging osmosis
happening, seawater and brine are flushed
off the membranes after service by permeate
water taken from the permeate tank (before
chlorination) and pushed in the membrane by a
low pressure pump (i.e., feed pump, distribution
pump or specific cleaning pump).
The CIP station, depending on the plant size,
includes a chemical tank with mechanical or
manual stirrer, a CIP pump and a fine filter
to avoid debris to enter the membranes. The
chemical tank depends on the number of
membranes to be cleaned at the same time. H
Alkaline and Acid Cleaning solutions are
recirculated around the membranes for at
least 30 minutes.
Routine cleaning, chemicals and procedures
are determined depending on desalination
plant layout and fouling identification. En

Membrane chemical cleaning

Seawater flows tangentially along the
membrane, creating a boundary layer on the
membrane surface.

Membranes have to be cleaned typically when:

• Normalised Permeate flow varies by 10-15%

• Normalised Feed pressure varies by 10-15%
• Normalised Permeate conductivity varies by
10-15 %
• Pressure drop between feed and concentrate
varies by 10-15 %

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 Reverse osmosis Desalination Manual

High pressure
pump

Concentrate
Permeate
Energy recovery
device

Fine filter CIP pump Chemical tank

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 The reverse osmosis membranes filter away
everything but water molecules. Therefore, it
is necessary to regulate the pH value and add
essential minerals afterwards, for instance by
letting let the water pass through limestone
filters. Again, precise dosing systems and dosing
pumps are essential to ensure the final product
is perfectly safe to drink.
b. Energy recovery
The brine leaves the system at very high
pressure, and there are different ways of
recovering and reusing this energy. In fact,
energy savings of up to 60 % can be achieved
by harvesting this energy with energy recovery
devices (ERD).
In the illustration below, two grouped solutions
for energy savings and reuse are shown. In the
Pelton group, the entire feed flow is pumped by
the high-pressure pump, whereas in the Pressure
Exchangers group, only part of the feed flow
equal to the product flow is pumped by the high-
pressure pump.
The main difference between the two groups is
therefore the flow pumped by the high-pressure
pump. This means that the normal pump and
motor losses is applied only to a portion of the
feed flow. This is the first element of power
savings credited to the Pressure Exchangers
group.

No recovery Product
40/1 bar

Feed
100/63 bar
100/5 bar
CARTRIDGE
FILTER

Brine
60/60 bar
60/0 bar

Turbine recovery Product

40/1 bar

Feed
100/63 bar
100/5 bar
CARTRIDGE
FILTER

Brine
60/60 bar

60/0 bar

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 Reverse osmosis Desalination Manual

Pressure Exchanger group

Product
Feed 40/1 bar
100/63 bar
40/63 bar

100/5 bar 60/63 bar

CARTRIDGE Brine
FILTER 60/60 bar

CHECK VALVES
PRESSURE VESSEL

VALVE
Brine
PRESSURE VESSEL 60/0 bar
60/2 bar

Product
Feed 40/1 bar
100/63 bar
40/63 bar

100/5 bar 60/63 bar

CARTRIDGE Brine
FILTER 60/60 bar

Brine
60/0 bar
60/2 bar

The particularity of the RO desalination process
lies in the fact that the brine coming from
the membranes loses very little from the feed
pressure, and this brine stream contains almost
50 % of the energy required for desalination.
This is why the efficiency with which the energy
contained in the brine pressure is transferred for
pumping of the feed water is critical.
The energy transfer in the Pelton group is
indirect, with the brine jet hitting the turbine
buckets. The efficiency of Pelton turbine itself
is around 87 %. The energy is transferred to the
shaft and from the shaft to the pump.
flow. This is the reason that the HP pump in
this scheme has to pump only part of the feed
flow equal to permeate. The transfer losses
are few, and the circulation pump delivers the
compensation of pressure difference between
brine and feed (3-4 bar).
The efficiency of energy recovery in the Pressure
Exchangers group is around 96 %.
Good pump efficiency is 85 %, and at the end of
the retransmission chain, of the 100 kWh energy
in the brine, only 74 kWh can be transferred to
the feed stream again.

The form of energy transfer in the Pressure

Exchangers group is direct from brine to feed
water, as in the steam engine, making the
Pressure Exchangers, at the same time, a high-
pressure pump for flow almost equal to brine

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 c. An example of possible power savings
Let us assume a desalination plant of 95,000
m3 per day capacity is built using one of two
technological approaches: Pelton turbine or
pressure exchangers.

Common data of design parameters used in both technological groups

Water plant Pressure to Brine Plant recovery HP pump Pelton Circulation Motor
production membrane pressure from efficiency efficiency pump efficiency
membrane efficiency
95,000 m3/day 63 bar 50 % 85 % 87 % 89 % 95 %
Pelton Group
Energy Energy Total energy Specific energy
consumption recovered by consumption consumption
of HP pump Pelton for an hour of per m3
operation
16232 kW 5716 kW 11069 kWh 2.8 kWh
Pressure Exchangers Group
Power of HP Power of Total energy Specific energy The difference in energy
pump circulation consumption consumption consumptin between
pump for one hour of per m3 Pressure Exchangers Group
operation and Pelton Group s 0.5
kWh per m3
8643 kW 405 kW 8948 kWh 2.3 kWh

The equipment and maintenance costs in the
Pressure Exchangers group are higher than in the
Pelton group.
The merit of implementation of one or other
group depends on several factors such as energy
cost, project lifetime, and interest rates. The cost
effectiveness of the Pressure Exchangers group
as opposed to the Pelton group, versus energy
cost, is shown below. The graph represents
the case of a 95,000 m3/day desalination
plant, 10-year loan, 7.5 % interest rate. As can
be seen, if the energy cost for large industrial
service is above USD 0.0175 (1.75 cents) per kWh,
the Pressure Exchangers group can be more
economical than equipment from the Pelton
group.

$4,000,000
$3,000,000
Saving NPV in US$

$2,000,000
$1,000,000
$0
-$1,000,000 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 4 4.5
- $2,000,000
Saving NPV in USD
Cost effectiveness of Pressure Exchangers group opposed to Pelton group versus
energy cost

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 Reverse osmosis Desalination Manual

The difference between types of equipment in

Cost comparison based on
each group
Energy Recovery Type
There is a major difference in efficiency between
1pass RO with ERT-40 g7L - 40% recovery
Pelton and Francis turbines. The Pelton turbine
- 125 m3/h - 0.08 kWh/m3 - 10 yrs depreciation time
is more efficient and used in the majority of
seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination 50%
plants. The weak point of Pelton technology is 45% 48%
the formation of a foamy stream that can only be 40%
41%
35%
evacuated by gravity or re-pumped once settled.
30% ERT
The differences between Dual Work Exchange 25% PX
Energy Recovery (DWEER) and isobaric pressure 20%

exchanger (ERI) systems are minor, with both 15%

14%
10% 11%
types of equipment having good reference records 5%
as reliable energy recovery systems. 0%
Investment Electricity

Energy effective but expensive DWEER and ERI Desalination plant costs breakdown
systems cannot be used in conditions where 1pass RO with PX-40 g7L - 40% recovery
the energy cost is low, the interest rate high and - 125 m3/h - 0.08 kWh/m3 - 10 yrs depreciation time
the mortgage period short. The type of energy 1%
11% 14% Investment
recovery device also depends on the condition of 7% Membranes
the brine discharge. The DWEER and ERI systems Consumables
are able to maintain sufficient backpressure for Electricity
41% 26%
long distance brine discharge. Manpower
Spares

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 ERI (isobaric pressure exchanger),
used for energy recovery in
Grundfos BMSX systems.

Energy use: 2.5-3.5 kWh/m³

VFD 40% recovery rate

9 m³/h Permeate 9 m³/h
70 bar
RO Concentrate 14 m³/h
Seawater feed
23 m³/h; 2 bar 68 bar
HP pump VFD
14 m ³/h 14 m ³/h; 68 bar
70 bar
Pressure
14 m3/h 2 bar Booster pump exchanger

14 m³/h
1 bar

The relationship between energy cost, interest
rates, and labour and civil engineering costs
will determine the plant recovery, membrane
flux, and even water velocity in the pipelines.
Low power cost and high labour cost, as is
typical in the USA, is unusual for traditional
seawater desalination areas. This combination
of economic parameters will challenge plant
designers to push desalination technology to
its limits. In the effort to reach low overall water
cost, the SWRO designers will implement high
membrane fluxes and high recovery in order to
reduce the physical dimension of the plant and
increase the energy components of the water
cost.
The tender requirements should define the limits
on several technological parameters to ensure a
reliable water supply.

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 Reverse osmosis Desalination Manual

BMT pump driven by Pelton

turbine, used in Grundfos BMST
system.

Energy consumption: 4.5 -5 kWh/m³

VFD 23m³/h 40% recovery rate

Permeate 9 m³/h
70 bar
RO Concentrate 14 m³/h
HP pump 68 bar
14 m ³/h; 68 bar
25bar
Pelton
turbine

Seawater feed
23 m³/h; 2 bar 14 m³/h
0 bar

Power consumption per m3 permeate produced on SWRO system with Pelton turbine.

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 WATER INTAKE

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 Water intake Desalination Manual

3. Water intake

The first step in desalination is collecting a. Beach wells

seawater for processing. There are many ways to Beach wells are recommended when seawater
design an intake system, and the method chosen quality can vary over the season and/or when
depends on a range of factors, including the high turbidity peaks can occur. One vertical
water demand and the quality of the seawater. beach well can draw up TIDAL
to WATER
200 m3/h. A radial
well can take up to 1000 m3/hour, depending on
Above
BEACH Well and
pumps
For smaller plants, it will often be a good idea to max. storm
the soil layers.
use beach wells fitted with submersible pumps. tide level
This will allow the sand or corals to work as a For larger plants, or plants located near polluted
natural filter, reducing pre-filtration steps in the coastal water, pump houses with dry-installed
plant. pumps and pipelines are often the better choice.
Not only will a pipeline allow a larger intake of
water,TOit TREATMENT
will also enable you to collect
A water
A from
beyond the polluted area.
PLANT
PLAN VIEW

Well and Well and

pump pump

CASING
TIDAL WATER
BEACH Well and
Above
pumps CEMENT GROUT
max. storm
tide level

WELL SCREEN

GRAVEL PACK
TO TREATMENT A A
PLANT
PLAN VIEW A A

SECTIONAL VIEW
Well and Well and
pump pump

STORAGE TANK
REVERSE OSMOSIS

DEDALINATED
CASING WATER

PRE-TREATMENT

CEMENT GROUT

WELL SCREEN

INTAKE

GRAVEL PACK
UNDERGROUND
TUNNELS

A A
Overview of seawater desalination concept
SECTIONAL VIEW

OUTLET

25

9069_BM_BMET_manual_2016.indd 25 25-11-2016 13:09:05

 INTAKE WATER
TREATMENT

26

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 Intake water treatment Desalination Manual

4. Intake water treatment

The next step in the seawater intake process is a

mechanical and possibly chemical pre-treatment.

Typical SWRO system

with multimedia filter
and microfilter

H2SO4 Antiscalant
Multi media Micro R/O Stage
NaOSl
H2SO 4 filter
Multi media Micro filterAntiscalant SBS R/O Stage
NaOSl filter filter SBS
FeCl3
FeCl3

PURE WATER PURE WATER

ERT ERT
SEA
SEA WATER Pump
WATER Pump BoosterBooster High pressure Concentrate Concentrate
High pressure Post Post
pump pump pump pump treatment treatment

Sodium RO filtered
hypo chlorite Sodium water RO filtered
hypo chlorite water

R/O Stage
In taked Backwash
water strage tank R/O Stage
pump
In taked Backwash
water strage tank PURE
pump WATER

Concentrated PURE
Pre-filter
feed pump Compressor water Product water WATER
strage tank
Concentrated
Well pump Pre-filter MF Filtered Transfer High
Compressor water Product water
feed pumpmodule water tank pump pressure
pump strage tank
Strainer MF Filtered Transfer High
Well pump module water tank pump pressure Typical SWRO system
pump
with ultra filtration as
Strainer pre-filtration.

The choice of method depends on the water However, it is more and more common that
quality. The most common approach is to pump membranes for ultrafiltration replace the bag
the seawater through multi-media filters with filters or cartridge filter.
layers of sand, pebbles or gravel to remove twigs,
seaweed and other solid particles. The water will
then be filtered through bag filters or cartridge
filters before it is pumped into the membranes.

27

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 External view of hollow fiber membrane

a. Nanofiltration
Nanofiltration is a relatively recent membrane
filtration process often used where water has
low total dissolved solids (TDS), such as surface
water and fresh groundwater. With the purpose
of softening (polyvalent cation removal) and
removal of disinfection by-product precursors
such as natural organic matter and synthetic,
nanofiltration is used increasingly as pre-
filtration for SWRO systems.

How nanofiltration works

Using nanofiltration as pre-filtration prevents
fouling in the SWRO membranes, and this
increases the efficiency of the desalination
plant. The nanofiltration membranes used for
prefiltration are often hollow fibre membranes.

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 Intake water treatment Desalination Manual

b. Chlorine
If necessary, chlorine is added to remove bacteria
or flocculent to separate larger particles from the
water. It can also be necessary to add antiscalant
to prevent scaling deposit in the membranes.

This process relies heavily on precision dosing

pumps to ensure that the exact amount of
chemicals is added.

If chlorine is added, it needs to be removed before

the water is pumped through the membranes.
Potassium metabisulphite is dissolved in the
water to remove chlorine and chloramine.

In this process, feed pumps or end-suction

pumps are essential to maintain the right
pressure and ensure proper filtration. The pumps
are also responsible for delivering sufficient inlet
pressure to the high-pressure pump, which drives Chemical dosing
the RO process.

Grundfos Polydos

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 BRINE DISCHARGE

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5. Brine discharge
When designing a desalination plant, the
brine discharge or outfall must be taken into
consideration.
The impacts of a desalination plant discharge on
the marine environment depend on the physical
and chemical properties of the desalination
plant reject streams, and the susceptibility
of coastal ecosystems to these discharges
depending on their hydrographical and biological
features. Therefore, a good knowledge of
both the effluent properties and the receiving
environment is required in order to evaluate the
potential impacts of desalination plants on the
marine environment.
The brine flows are of a considerable size,
generally up to 50-60 % (for membrane based
technologies such as RO and up to 90 % (for
thermal technologies such as MSF, including
cooling water) of the intake flowrate. The
flows are therefore almost as large as or even
considerably larger than the required freshwater
water flow, and salinity and temperature directly
influence the density of the effluent. The various
density differences between the brine and the
receiving water represented by the buoyancy
flux causes different flow characteristics for the
discharge. The dense RO effluent flow has the
tendency to fall as negatively buoyant plume
and spread as a density current on the sea floor,
whereas a neutral to positive buoyant flux,
causing the plume to rise and to spread on the
sea surface, is characteristic for effluent from
thermal desalination plants.
DESALINATION
PLANT
Brine discharge design must take into account
environmental impact and operational needs, even
where these are not specific in local planning regulations
9069_BM_BMET_manual_2016.indd 31
Brine discharge Desalination Manual
Seawater desalination plants carry a number of
waste products into the coastal environment:
concentrated salt brine that may also have
an elevated temperature, often containing
antifoulant and antiscalant and other
substances. Modern, large capacity plants
require submerged discharges that ensure a high
dilution in order to minimise harmful impacts on
the marine environment.
• There is increased public concern and scientific
awareness on the environmental impact
of desalination plants. Impacts become key
issue for discharge permit (thus influence
plant commissioning date and eventual
modifications).
• New regulations demand for better pollution
control at the discharge point (‘effluent
standards’) as well as within the receiving
water (‘ambient standards’). In order to meet
these regulations, optimised high efficiency
mixing designs are needed for the discharges.
• Discharge designs are often not optimised
regarding environmental impacts or
operational needs. Especially for larger plants
or plant complexes there is a potential for
recirculation to the plant intake, reducing
overall system efficiency. There exists no
efficient planning tool to assist desalination
plant designers and plant managers about
the importance of good planning for brine
discharges.
Positive buoyant jet
Negative buoyant jet
31
25-11-2016 13:09:27
 PERMEATE TREATMENT
AND DISTRIBUTION

32

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 Permeate treatment and distribution Desalination Manual

6. Permeate treatment and distribution

To finalise the treatment a so-called stabilisation a. Distribution

step is used to balance the water chemistry
again after adding and removing content in the
former steps of the process. This step becomes
very important, as it is the final step before the
water goes to the end-user or for use afterwards
in industry. In principle, this step is about pH
adjustment, balancing the water with minerals
such as calcium (Ca) or magnesium (Mg), or, even
removing ions to, for example, soften the water.
Finally, all general water treatment processes
end with the distribution network and the
pumps used. Important again is the choice of
materials, corresponding to the water usage in
question. Correct pressure level and flow rate for
the distribution system is important.

The reason for balancing the water chemistry is

to avoid corrosion in the pipework or of materials
used in the processes that follow to ensure the
efficiency of disinfection, as the effect of some
chemicals is pH-dependent. The reason can also
be to ensure the water meets the standards and
regulations set for the water usage in question.

Dosing skid system

Hydro MPC system Oxiperm pro for Lime preperation

disenfection system for pH
adjustment

33

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 CONTROL SYSTEMS
AND WATER QUALITY
CONTROL

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 Control systems and water quality control Desalination Manual
7. Control systems and water quality control
Throughout the whole process, different
measuring and control functions required, using
state of the art technology and providing reliable
results. Typically, hydraulic parameters such as
flow and pressure, and chemical parameters
like pH, turbidity, conductivity and Total Organic
Carbon (TOC) are measured online and put into
the process control system. The parameters to
be measured and controlled depends on the
regulations and requirements of the specific
process.
Total process control is important for every
treatment application. Normally a PLC brings
9069_BM_BMET_manual_2016.indd 35
together all the measured signals from the
different process steps and regulates the
process to ensure the success of the treatment.
This is also the point from where the different
components and subsystems with its various
signals are connected to an overall process,
generally using standard data connection
systems like Profibus, Ethernet and such like.
Total process control can also involve the internal
Grundfos communication protocol Genibus,
using converters to the communication protocols
mentioned above. Today, cloud solutions are also
available for overall process control.
35
25-11-2016 13:09:54
 PRODUCTS

36

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 Control systems and water quality control Desalination Manual

37

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 8. Product chart

Chlorination Flocculant Dechlorination Anti-Scalant

Cartridge Filter UF
Sand Filter

Cleaning Agent

optional Tank

Sitrans F M
MAG 3100 /
MAG 5100 /
MAG 5000 Chemical
Dosing Systems
Dosing Tank
Pressure and Stations Pressure and
Temperature Sensors Temperature Sensors
DPI / RPI DPI / RPI
Polymer
Dosing
VFI Dosing Systems Flow Sensors
Skid
Systems Polydos VFI

Flow Sensors

Intake Chemical Pretreatment Prefiltration

Submersible Dosing Pumps Feed/ End-Suction Pumps

Pumps Backwash
DMX Pumps
SP
DMH CM
Turbine Pumps End-Suction Pumps
Peerless Vertical NB / NK NB / NK
Turbine Pumps
DME CR
DDI

Multistage TP
Pumps SMART Digital
CR

38

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 Grundfos products Desalination Manual

Hypochlorite
alant pH Correction Minerals pH Correction
PX Chlorine
Dioxide

Buffer Tank
Chlorine
Gas

ClO2 Systems Chemical Dosing Systems

Tank DSS / DTS
Oxiperm Pro ISIA CIO2
Generator Sitrans F M
MAG 3100 /
MAG 5100 /
MAG 5000

Chemical
Isobaric Pressure Dosing Systems Cl2-Systems VFI
Exchangers Dosing Tank Vaccuperm
Stations Lime Gas
ERD pressure Preparation warning
exchanger Systems device Flow Sensors
DIA-G / DIS-G
Pressure and
KD Booster Temperature
Electro- Systems Sensors
Pelton chlorination
Turbines Dosing Skid
Systems Systems
BMT Hydro MPC
Selcoperm DPI / RPI

Reverse Osmosis Remineralisation Disinfection Distribution

Booster High Pressure Dosing Pumps Dosing Pumps End-Suction Pumps

Pumps Pumps
DMX DMX
BMS hs DMH DMH
BMS hp

NB / NK
BM DME DME
DDI DDI

BMP
SMART Digital SMART Digital

39

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 Tel: +45 87 50 14 00
www.grundfos.com
DK-8850 Bjerringbro
Poul Due Jensens Vej 7
GRUNDFOS Holding A/S

9069_BM_BMET_manual_2016.indd 40
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