Aquatech has been awarded a contract to design and supply a multiple effect distillation (MED) seawater desalination system for Orpic's Sohar Refinery Improvement Project in Oman.
Orpic (Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Co.) specified MED technology for uninterrupted water supply to boilers and other site needs. The desalination facility will supply pure water to boilers, service water and potable water.
Aquatech's scope of services includes design, equipment supply, testing and commissioning of three MED units, complete with accessories and post treatment systems, to produce distilled water within a challenging schedule as demanded by the project. Aquatech is supplying the system to a Petrofac–Daelim joint venture that has the full engineering, procurement and construction contract for the whole refinery project.
"Our MED technology—a cornerstone of this project—has been developed and enhanced over decades of in-house research and onsite experience worldwide. It will provide a reliable source of water, which is very critical for operation of the refinery, considering that the area is prone to red tide, which affects the operation of desalination systems," said Sandeep Rastogi, sales manager, Middle East, for Aquatech.
Expected to be commissioned in early 2016, the system will comprise:
- Three MED with thermal vapor compression units, each with a net capacity of 5,352 cu meters per day;
- Three fractional rlectrodeionization (FEDI) demineralization units, each with a capacity of 3,360 cu meters per day of ultrapure water for boiler feed; and
- Two remineralization dosing skids for the production of service water and potable water.
The desalination facility will treat seawater from the Indian Ocean to produce pure water with less than 5 mg/L of total dissolved solids. Plant steam will be used to provide the energy to operate the desalination units. It is designed for a performance gain output ratio of more than 6.3. The demineralization system consists of the patented FEDI process and will provide ultra pure water with less than 0.1 ppm of dissolved solids for boiler feed water.
Source: Aquatech
