SYNOPSIS

This presentation will focus on the use of membrane desalination in an off-shore application. Membrane desalination technology was developed in the late 1940s at UCLA and since then, membrane desalination systems have been implemented successfully all over the world. Seawater desalination has been widely used in maritime and municipal applications. In many cases, seawater desalination has been found to be a financially viable technology for use in a municipal-wide drinking water system. As a result, coastal desalination plants have been successfully implemented by municipalities all over the world. Off-shore desalination is now considered a technology that can be used to enhance oil production. The design of these large scale facilities has real challenges that must be attended to prior to the start of design and equipment procurement. Challenges of a “closed-circuit”, high pressure system can create high surge (transient) pressures that can create cyclic stresses on equipment, resulting in disruptive downtimes. The presentation focuses on a “whole-facility” design approach, intellectual property rights, pump optimization and demonstrates how hydraulic surges can be mitigated, and outlines strategies that can be used to develop a complete process control logic. The development of next generation engineering tools will also be presented.

ATTENDEES with knowledge of process design in water systems, water chemistry, desalination and pump design will greatly benefit from the presentation. Senior engineers with project management and business development responsibilities may also find this presentation useful, especially in developing new business opportunities and expanding their technology base.