Water
Desalination Plant Design
A programme in the practical design of reverse osmosis desalination plants: feed water characteristics, intakes, pretreatment, design of the membrane system and energy recovery, post-treatment, and discharge of the concentrated brine.
Overview
About the programme
Duration
5 days
Training hours
25 hours
Delivery
Training hall · Virtual · At your premises
Language
Arabic or English
Objectives
Training outcomes
- Compare thermal and membrane desalination technologies and the basis for selecting a technology.
- Establish design data from feed water analysis: salinity, temperature, silt density index (SDI), boron and scaling factors.
- Select the intake and pretreatment system suited to the type of water.
- Design the reverse osmosis system: flux, recovery, number of stages and passes, and pressure vessel arrangement, using the projection software that membrane manufacturers provide.
- Select high-pressure pumps and energy recovery devices and calculate specific energy consumption.
- Design post-treatment and brine discharge in line with environmental requirements.
Content
What the programme covers
Day 1: desalination technologies and design data
- Thermal desalination (MSF and MED) and membrane desalination of seawater and brackish water (SWRO and BWRO), where each is used, and the desalination sector in Saudi Arabia and the roles of the Saudi Water Authority and the Saudi Water Partnership Company.
- Feed water analysis and design data: dissolved solids, temperature, SDI, boron, silica and scaling indices.
Day 2: intakes and pretreatment
- Open intakes and beach wells, and how the type of intake affects pretreatment.
- Pretreatment: coagulation, dissolved air flotation (DAF), media filtration, ultrafiltration (UF), cartridge filters, antiscalant dosing and dechlorination.
Day 3: membrane system design
- Basics of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration: osmotic pressure, flux, recovery and salt passage.
- Designing stages, passes and vessel arrangement, a second pass for boron reduction, and an exercise in one of the projection programs.
Day 4: energy and equipment
- High-pressure pumps and energy recovery devices: pressure exchangers and turbines, and calculating specific energy consumption.
- The clean-in-place (CIP) system, instrumentation and control, and corrosion-resistant piping materials.
Day 5: post-treatment and brine
- Post-treatment: remineralisation with lime and carbon dioxide or with calcite, pH adjustment and disinfection.
- Brine discharge: outfalls and diffusers, effects on the marine environment, and environmental requirements.
- Final exercise: an outline design of a desalination plant from given feed water data, followed by the assessment.
Who it is for
Target audience
Process, design and project engineers in water bodies, consultancies and contracting companies, and operations engineers who take part in reviewing desalination plant designs.
Method
Delivery method
Lectures and design calculation exercises, with practice on a free projection program from a membrane manufacturer that each participant runs on their own computer. The final exercise can be built on data from one of the organisation’s projects. In Arabic or English.
Questions
FAQ
What software is used?
The projection programs that membrane manufacturers provide free of charge; participants install them on their own computers before the programme, following instructions sent by the centre.
How does it differ from Advanced Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration Technologies?
This programme covers the design of the whole plant: intake, pretreatment, membrane system, energy, post-treatment and brine. The other programme focuses on membrane performance, operation and monitoring, fouling control, and nanofiltration applications.
What prior knowledge is required?
A basic knowledge of water chemistry and of pipe and pump hydraulics. The programme suits engineers and does not require previous design experience.
A programme tailored to your organisation
The duration and topics of the programme are adjusted to the organisation's needs, and it is delivered at its site, in a training hall arranged by the Center, or virtually.