Energy efficient desalination: Results from the Ghantoot pilot studies Dr. Corrado Sommariva Managing Director Generation Middle East and Main Group Director, ILF Consulting Engineers
ADVISORY PANEL FINDINGS Corrado Sommariva
Independent Advisory Panel Masdar established the Independent Advisory Panel to review the Program and to provide independent expert opinion and guidance on the implementation of the Program. The panelists are internationally well recognized industry experts in areas relevant to seawater desalination and have been appointed by Masdar. The mandate of the Panel was to provide independent expert opinion and guidance on the implementation of the Program. page 3
Members of the Independent Advisory Panel Dr. Corrado Sommariva (Chair) Dr. Sommariva is managing director of ILF Consulting Engineers Middle East and the head of the company s worldwide desalination practice. Dr. Sommariva was president of the International Desalination Association (IDA) for the term 2011-2013. He has been president of the European Desalination Society (EDS) and chairman of the World Health Organization s committee for the establishment of safe drinking water from desalination. Leon Awerbuch As president & chief technology officer, LET Ltd., Mr. Awerbuch is currently involved in providing technical and commercial consulting. Mr. Awerbuch is a past president of IDA and was chairman of six IDA World Congresses. Currently he serves as a director of the association and has been a chairman and co-chair of IDA s Technical Programs for the past 25 years. He has organized and chaired over 40 conferences, forums, seminars and workshops around the world. Ursula Annunziata Mrs. Annunziata is an international authority on desalination. She is the director of Genesys International. She is president of the European Desalination (EDS). Over the last 25 years her focus has been on membrane technology, specializing in antiscalants and membrane cleaning chemicals. Dr. Nobuya Fujiwara Dr. Fujiwara is deputy director and senior general manager of the Desalination Membrane Department of TOYOBO Co., Ltd. and director of the Arabian Japanese Membrane Company (AJMC). He currently leads research and development efforts on forward osmosis membrane development. Dr. Fujiwara is a director of the International Desalination Association and a vice president of the Japan Desalination Association
Members of the Independent Advisory Panel Paul Holthus Mr. Holthus is founding president and chief executive officer of the World Ocean Council. Mr. Holthus has been involved in coastal and marine resource sustainable development and conservation work in over 30 countries. He works with the private sector and market forces to develop practical solutions for achieving sustainable development and addressing environmental concerns. Dr. Masaru Kurihara Dr. Masaru Kurihara is senior scientific director of the "Mega-ton Water System," a funding program for world leading innovation, science and technology in Japan, and fellow of Toray Industries, Inc. He is president of the Asia Pacific Desalination Association (APDA) and vice president of the Japanese Desalination Association (JDA). He has received numerous awards in recognition of his work including a Lifetime Achievement Award from IDA, presented in 2011. Dr. Joachim Koschikowski Dr. Koschikowski has been working with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, the largest solar research center in Europe, since 1996. Since 1999, he has been working in the field of solar desalination with a focus on the development, design and simulation of membrane distillation processes and systems. Since 2014, Dr. Koschikowski is head of the R&D group Water Treatment and Separation. Dr. Adam Warren Dr. Adam Warren is the Director of the Integrated Applications Center at the US Department of Energy s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). His Center addresses the technical, policy, and financial hurdles to developing resiliency, efficiency, and renewableenergy technologies at scale. Lessons from today s marketplace inform the direction of future technology and policy research at NREL.
Site Photos Abengoa desalination pilot plant Suez desalination pilot plant Trevi Systems desalination pilot plant Veolia desalination pilot plant Mascara desalination pilot plant
Pilot Plant Performance All pilot plants met Masdar s performance expectations. Arabian Gulf seawater has proven to be challenging especially for the high organic and biological content Dissolved Air Floatation process has proven to be crucial to enhance the performance of the pre-treatment and therefore of the desalination unit. Adequate design of the pre-treatment stage has proven to be essential to achieve high availability and low energy consumption. Reverse Osmosis has proven to be a reliable desalination technology to produce drinking water even with challenging seawater. Reverse Osmosis advanced design solutions piloted in Ghantoot can be easily scaled up to utility size. The program has demonstrated that produce drinking water with desalination plants powered with renewable energy sources is cost-effectively, providing Abu Dhabi with the valuable option to reduce dependence on natural gas for the production of water. The calculated cost of drinking water produced by PV-RO plant with the technologies demonstrated in Ghantoot is 0.87 0.92 USD/m3.
Pilot Plant Performance The novel process of Forward Osmosis has been demonstrated to work on a scale of 50 m 3 /d. This is a major achievement considering the early stage of technology development. Membrane distillation has proven to be a potential solution for brine treatment. Off-grid reverse osmosis technology has proven to be technically feasible. Forward Osmosis Membrane Distillation Off-grid RO
Feedback of the Panel on the Program Excellent job of overviewing the projects and summarizing the critical information Very interesting experience to observe the Ghantoot piloting facility evolving from concept to pilot and on to fully operational plants Satisfying response of the Program to demonstrate that coupling with renewable energy supply is feasible. Good technologies mix including the pioneering forward osmosis and membrane distillation Interesting evaluation/comparison of three different solar thermal collector systems to evaluate the most suitable way of providing low temperature heat for thermal desalination processes The Program stimulated the development and commercialization of new technologies that are needed to reduce the economic and environmental footprint of desalination. The Program enabled the participating companies to improve and optimize their technologies and adapt them to the seawater conditions of the Arabian Gulf.
Future R&D Developments The panel recommends an extension of the Program. Further development of the Program could include the following RD&D elements: Optimization of recovery ratio. Brine recovery / Zero-liquid-discharge Chemicals Development of membrane cleaning procedures Development of new membranes Development of different geometric membrane spacers. Training local engineers! Developing monitoring/specific measuring techniques. Evaluating new(ish) standards such as MFI instead of SDI Promoting awareness of the need for energy footprint limitation. Improvement of partial load capabilities or RO plants. Development and optimization of advanced pressure recovery devices. Development of advanced energy supply concept particular to small to medium scale systems. Development of water storage concepts as artificial groundwater recharge
Extension of Project Site Development of Ghantoot into a permanent testing facility continuing a program of seawater desalination sustainable development. Test rig to introduce proof and certify performance of new technologies Accelerate the development of energy-efficiency, renewable energy powered desalinization at a scale not possible today. Training and visitor centre with associated Academic support for sustainable energy and water research experimental research
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