Doosan, awarded a contract by Kuwait to build a sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant, has subcontracted Energy Recovery Inc (ERI) to supply its technology.
ERI is a global leader of ultra-high-efficiency energy recovery products and technology for desalination. It will supply its innovative PX Pressure Exchanger (PX) technology for the Shuwaikh project, which is Kuwait’s first large-scale SWRO desalination plant.
Plant capacity will be 136,000 cu m per day equivalent to 36 million US gallons per day with a recarbonation system. The project is scheduled for completion in 2010.
Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction is executing the Shuwaikh contract on an EPC basis.
Doosan Hydro Technology, a wholly owned US-based subsidiary, will provide all basic process design engineering and detailed engineering review services.
Water sustainability is a growing concern in the Middle East and the Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity and Water has taken proper measures to sustain a potable water supply for its communities. The plant, Kuwait’s first seawater desalination plant using SWRO technology, will supply drinking water for 450,000 residents in Kuwait City. Under the contract, Doosan will design and build the plant, which will be located near Shuwaikh port, and will supply equipment and materials. The project is scheduled for completion in September 2010.
Doosan Hydro Technology selected ERI’s largest commercially available 65-Series product, the PX-260 energy recovery device, due to its high efficiency, high flexibility and small footprint. The project will include 187 PX-260 PX Pressure Exchanger energy recovery devices which will save an estimated 12.7 megawatts of power. Assuming a power cost of $0.05 kWh, ERI’s PX Technology energy recovery solution will save the project an estimated $7.2 million of energy costs per year compared to operating with no energy recovery. ERI and Doosan also teamed up for the 150,000 cum per day (39.6 MGD) Al Shuaibah III Expansion SWRO Desalination Plant in September of 2007.
John Huit, Doosan Hydro Technology’s director of business development, said, “It is an exciting opportunity to be involved in this project. Working with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, who will build the very first large-scale SWRO plant in Kuwait to a Doosan Hydro Technology design, provides us the opportunity to apply our expertise to a high-profile project in the global arena.”
Dr Richard Stover, ERI chief technology officer stated: “We are excited about winning this project in Kuwait. Our ground-breaking work in the early 1990s at the Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR) Laboratories laid the foundation for today’s PX technology. It’s with great pleasure that we are able to give back to the region.”
Several desalination plants throughout the Middle East and North Africa utilise ERI’s PX technology to cut costs. From large plants in Algeria and the UAE to smaller plants throughout Egypt and Saudi Arabia, ERI has focused its efforts on providing the region with advanced energy recovery solutions. The company has a regional sales office in Dubai.
Earlier this year, Doosan Hydro Technology was awarded the Desalination Company of the Year award at the Water, Finance & Sustainability Conference presented by Global Water Intelligence and the International Desalination Association.
“Doosan Hydro Technology will continue to provide design, manufacturing and construction of custom-engineered water and wastewater treatment plants,” a company spokesman said. The company is a leading authority on membrane technology solutions.
ERI’s PX Pressure Exchanger device is a rotary positive displacement pump that recovers energy from the high-pressure reject stream of SWRO systems at up to 98 per cent efficiency with no downtime or scheduled maintenance.
The company has research, development and manufacturing facilities in the San Francisco technology corridor as well as direct sales offices and technical support centres in key desalination hubs such as Madrid, the UAE, Shanghai and Florida. ERI service representatives are based in Algeria, Australia, China, India, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan and the Caribbean.