desalination industry-1 apda

11

Speech

Speech from the President Congratulations to the First Issues of APDA Magazine

“Desalination Industry”

Fig.1 Asia Water and Membrane Forum, Tokyo, Japan.

Dr. Masaru Kurihara President of Asia Pacific Desalination Association

Congratulations to the First Issues of APDA Magazine Desalination Industry. Although in the past, we had a big discussion on the publication of APDA Magazine in the APDA board meeting, I would like to describe the brief history and recent activity of APDA due to the publication of the first edition of APDA magazine.

1 Brief History Before the Establishment of APDA OrganizationWe Had the “2006 Asia Water and Membrane Forum” organized by JDA on June 7, 2006 in Tokyo Japan. The representatives of 6 countries from Asia-Pacific region (Japan, China, India, Singapore, Australia and Pakistan) had participated with the former IDA president, Mr. Gassan Ejeh. As shown in Fig.1. The concept of Asia-Pacific Desalination was obtained as one of the most fruitful results of this forum. APDA was officially established on May 27, 2008.2006 Asia Water and Membrane Forum was the motive conference to start APDA. As shown Fig.1.

12

The following Fig.2 was introduced at the conference on March 10th, 2010, which washeld jointly by India Dessalination Asociation and APDA. As the figure indicates, various affiliates in Asia-Pacific Region based on IDA exist in the world’s water organization. IDA hasmany affiliates globally as shown in Table1.

Fig.2 Organizational Position & Relation with IDA

Note *1: Others/ Future IDA affiliate members to be expected

1.1 Organizational Position & Relation with IDA

Others*1 Name

Korea Korea Desalination Association

Taiwan Taiwan Desalination Association

Regional affiliate(abbreviation)

Affiliate Name

AMTA

EDS

AEDyR

JDA

CDA

AWA

LDA

American Membrane Technology Association

European Desalination Society

Asociacion Espanola de DesalacionyReutilizacion

Japan Desalination Association

Chinese Desalination Association

Australian Water Association

Levant Desalination Association

Association affiliate(abbreviation)

Affiliate Name

InDA Indian Desalination Association

PakDA Pakistan Desalination Association

WDEC Water Desalination Engineering Chapter

WSTA Water Science and Technology Association

CaribDA Caribbean Desalination Association

SWA Singapore Water Association

IDA

JDA CDA AWA

InDA PaKDA S WA

KOREA TAIWAN

APDA(Future IDA affiliate members to be expected)

Regional Affiliate

Association Affiliate

Others

Regional affiliates and association affiliates according to IDA constitution are categorized in 2 groups.

1.2 The Constitution of the Asia-Pacific Desalination AssociationObject: The primary purpose of this Association is to make contributions to the solution of water problems in the Asia-Pacific region by exerting a synergetic effect in cooperation with each of the members of the Association which consists of Regional Affiliates, Associa-tion Affiliates, etc., under IDA and through coordination with related organizations.

Table1 Abbreviations and Official Names of IDA Affiliates

Speech

13

Speech from the President

Version-2011/1/25

(Version-2011/1/25)

Regional affiliate

Association affiliateIDA

AMTA AEDyR

EDS WSTA

WDEC

( ): Number of Affiliate Members

CaribDA

(KDA)(17)

JDA( 112 )

CDA( 182 )

InDA( 240 )

PakDA( 120 )

AWA( 5000)

(TDA)(19)SWA

( 188 )

APDA( Total Mem ber: 5878)

LDA

Fig.3 Global IDA’s Affiliates and APDA.

Status: Association Affiliates of IDA

1.3 IDA (International Desalination Association) & APDA (Asia Pacific Desalination Association)Fig.3 shows IDA’s global affiliates and APDA. The abbreviation of each affiliate is shown in Table 1.The affiliates are composed of each country and / or each continent such as EDS. Fig.3 also shows the relationship between IDA, APDA and each affiliate of Asia-Pacific region. It also includes the others such as Korea and Taiwan for future IDA affiliate members & APDA members to be expected.

1.4 APDA Organization & the Related Persons Corresponding to Each AssignmentThe Table 2 below shows the organizational relationship between each affiliate of APDA & the persons, corresponding to each assignment.Table 2 APDA Organization & the related persons corresponding to each assignment as of November 1, 2009

JDA CDA AWA InDA PaKDA SWA KOREA TAIWAN

President Dr. Kurihare,M.

Vice President Prof. Gao,Congjie

Mr. Iwahori, H. Prof. Wang,Shichang

Mr. Mollenkopf,Tom

Dr. P. K. Tewari Mr. F. M.Mubeen

Mr. Khoo TengChye

Prof. Dr. D. J.Lee

Mr. Fujiwara, N.Mr. Guo, You

ZhiMr. Nisar

Ahmed Khan

Secretary General Mr. Hirai, M. Mr. Guo, Youzhi Mr. M. IrfanShaikh

Ms. Jan Tan

Secretary Mr. Takeuchi, H. Ms. Yang, Yan Dr. DianeWiesner

Mr. K. P.Gwaiani

Mr. M. Shakaib Mr. S. C. Kwak Mr. K. L. Tung

Advisory Board Dr. Goto, T. Mr. AbdullahMubeen

Member CategoryRegionalAffiliate

RegionalAffiliate

RegionalAffiliate

AssociationAffiliate

AssociationAffiliate

AssociationAffiliate Others Others

Board Member

Mr. Palmer,Neil

Mr. Ahn HyunSang

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2 Activities of APDA

Date Place Theme Organizers 2008/5/27-30 Qingdao, China 2008 APDA Conference on Desalination &

Water Reuse CDA

2009/2/11-13 Sydney, Australia 2009, 2nd APDA Conference AWA

2010/3/10-12 Chennai, India 2010, 3rd APDA Conference InDA

2010/11/15-16 Taichung, Taiwan 2010, APDA Workshop Taiwan

2011/7/0-0 Singapore 2011, 4th APDA Conference SWA

2.1 Past ConferencesTable 3 shows the past & future conferences of APDA Since the first conference in Qingdao, China, we have had 3 conferences and one APDA workshop in Taichung, Taiwan.The photos of each conference and workshop are shown below. Table 3 The Past & Future Conferences of APDA

As Table 3 & Fig.4 show, the first APDA conference was held between May 27th and 30th,2008 with CDA.

Fig.7 The First APDA Workshop Was Held in Taic-hung, Taiwan in November 2010.2.2 Future APDA conference The 4th APDA conference with SWA will be held in Singapore on July 7, 2011.

Fig.4 The First APDA Conference with CDA, Qingdao, China, 2008

Fig.5 The Second APDA Conference with AWA, Sydney, Australia, 2009 Fig.6 The Third APDA Conference, with InDa, Chennai, India, 2010

15

Technology Development

Gao Congjie Development Center of Water Treatment Technology

Abstract

Global economic development and ecological environment have been influenced by water resource defi-ciency day by day. The water resource shortage in China has been a severe impact to the development of social economy of the coastal and western regions. Desalinization technology is one of the important means to solve current water resource deficiency problems. Desali-nized water output is about 70 million cubic meters per day around the whole world. The energy consumption of seawater desalinization has already dropped to 3 kWh/m3, and desalina-tion water cost is about USD 0.5/m3. China is a great country with large water resources, the total volume of water resources is 2,810 billion cubic meters, which is in the 6th place of the world; the per capita water resource volume is 2220 cubic meters, which is only 1/4 of the world average and in the 121st place of the world. China is classified as one of the 13 countries with poorest water shortage by the United Nations. The national annual water shortage volume is up to 40 billion cubic meters, and at present, the economic losses over RMB 200 billion is caused by the lack of water, which has restricted the economic and social development seriously. Throughout the research and develop-ment of more than 50 years, China has made considerable progress in distilla-tion technology and reverse osmosis technology on seawater desaliniza-tion. Seawater desalinization output in China is about 7.0×105 m3/d. This has

Growth and Prospect ofSeawater Desalination Technology in China

solved the industry and drinking water supply problem of a great deal of islands, coastal areas and western regions. The desalination water demand is expected to be increased up to 3.0 -5.0×106 m3/d in the following 10-15 years. It will make desalinization become an important component of safe water supply system along coastal areas.

1 Technology of seawater desali-nation and current situation in China

The research on seawater desalination has a long way with the initial research on electrodialysis (ED) in 1958 and research on reverse osmosis (RO) and distillation etc., in 1965. At the beginning of the 1960s, the small-scale ED device equipped with polyvinyl alcohol heterogeneous ion-exchange membrane has already been put into experimentation, and was put into pilot operation in 1967 for desalting water production. Ever since the 1970s, a succession of manufac-tures on various homogeneous ion exchange membrane, researches on electrode dynamics and the prepara-tion of titanium electrode coated with ruthenium, the development of the large size (800×1600 mm) electrodialy-sis clapboard, the research on ED hydraulics parameter, the design and development of the large scale ED membrane, the technology of EDR, and the standardization of the equipment have been carried out, and abundant experience on engineering design and


16

operation have been achieved. The ED seawater desalination plant of 200 m3/d located at the Xisha Islands to meet military and civil demand with the con-sumption of 18 kWh/m3 freshwater. By far, the annual output of ion exchange membrane is stabilized at 4.0×105 m2. As for the reverse osmosis, researches were carried out in labs in 1965; between 1967 and 1969, cellulose acetate asymmetry reverse osmosis membrane was achieved in pilot scale; the development of hollow fiber and spiral RO components was made in the 1970s, and it has been industrialized and promoted into application in the 1980s; and an exploration of composite reverse osmosis was undertaken and put into pilot-scale application with great success. In 1997, a 500 m3/d seawater RO desalination demonstration plant was constructed at Shengshan Island, Zhoushan, and a 1000 m3/d seawater RO desalination plant was set up at Da Changshan Island with a freshwater con-sumption of 5.5 kWh/m3 in 1999. At the end of 2000, a seawater RO demonstra-tion plant of 1000 m3/d have been built up respectively at the Long Land of Shandong and Shengsi of Zhejiang prov-ince. Later on, the Huaneng Electric Power Plants of Weihai and Dalian have established 2000 m3/d seawater RO desalination plants, and then, the Rongcheng of Shandong and Dalian Petrochemical have built up 5000 m3/d seawater RO desalination plants. In recent years, a number of large plants have been built, such as 34560 m3/d in Yuhuan Power plant, 2.0×104 m3/d in Leqing Power plant, 1.0×105 m3/d in Xinquan desalination plant of Tianjin, 1.0×105 m3/d in Baifa desalination plant of Qingdao…. Over 50 SWRO desalina-tion plants have been established with a total freshwater output about 4.0×105

m3/d.With the respect of distilling, the research and development on ship use distilling device of small-scale were the major

focus in the 1960s, and the pilot-scale research on the MSF with the capacity of a hundred ton level has acquired some design parameters and experience between 1970s and 1980s; a VC device of 30 m3/d was put into experimental use from 1980s to 1990s. In 1987, Dagang Electric Power Plant imported two sets of MSF of 3000 m3/d from the United States for boiler water supply. In 1997, a domes-tic designed and manufactured MSF plant of 1200 m3/d was commissioned for trial. 2 LT-MED devices of 1.0×104 m3/d were imported from Sidem by Huanghua Power Plant for boiler water supply in 2002. The domestic designed and manu-factured LT-MET device of 3000 m3/d was commissioned in 2004 in Qingdao Huangdao Power Plant, and another LT-MED device of 1.25×104 m3/d was put in to operation in 2008 in Huanghua Power Plant. 4 LT-MED devices of 2.5×104

m3/d were imported from IDE by Beijiang Power Plant for boiler water supply in 2009.With the development of nearly a half century, more than 60 seawater desalt-ing plants have been established with a total capacity of 7.0×105 m3/d, and the capacity of those under construction has exceeded 1.5×106 m3/d. The cost of desalting water has been reduced from RMB 7/ton in 1980s to around RMB 4/m3 recently, and the technology and cost are equal with the advanced level in the world. As the enlargement of plant scale and the improvement of technology, reduction of cost is still possible. The main problem is that the components such as membrane, high pressure pump and energy recovery unit are all imported, and the domestic manufac-tured membrane components need to be tested; and the present plant is in small scale with less project experience. Nuclear power for seawater desalination process is just in preliminary stage.

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Year 2010 2015 2020

eawater desalination

150--200 250--300

I tem

S 100--08

PostscriptThrough the efforts in next 5-10 years, China will become one of the countries with higher level of desalination tech-nology and stronger desalination industry.

2 Suggestions for desalination industry developmentSome suggestions for desalination industry development are listed briefly as follows:2.1 Set up important seawater desali-nation demo areas to offer the seawa-ter desalination industry a leap-forward development.2.2 Encourage technology innovation to make the technology with indepen-dent intellectual property develop much more rapidly. 2.3 Set up a standard system of desali-nization to guarantee the healthy development of desalination technol-ogy.2.4 Expand desalination technology applications to achieve more remark-able repayments of economic, social and ecological benefits.2.5 Set up a desalination industry chain to decrease environmental pollution and improve the comprehensive ben-efits. 2.6 Establish corresponding policies and regulations to make the desalina-tion industry under standardized and legalized administration.

3 Main targets of desalination industry in China in the following 5-10 years Through the aforesaid analysis, devel-oping desalination industry in China should mainly rely on reverse osmosis and LT-MED. Meanwhile, attention should be paid to some innovative inte-grated technology and cogeneration technology. For large scale seawater desalination projects, it is recom-mended to consider the integration of the use of nuclear power with SWRO, MSF and LT-MED. It can even be com-bined with salt production industry and relative chemical industries. 3.1 More than 10 plants of SWRO or MED with the capacity larger than 2.0×104m3/d will be built in next 5

years. 3.2 More than 10 key desalination tech-nologies with independent intellectual property will be achieved, such as pretreatment, brine treatment, re-mineralization of desalted water and integrated desalination technologies. 3.3 More than 6 key desalination equip-ments with independent intellectual property will be manufactured, includ-ing RO membrane modules, high pres-sure pumps and boosters, energy recov-ery devices, CUF for seawater pretreat-ment, evaporator of MED, vapor spray-ers and condensers.3.4 Organize 2-3 innovative strategic alliances of seawater desalination tech-nologies, found 10 equipment manu-facturers with international competition, and establish a completed industrial chain for sea water desalination.3.5 Set up several innovative research teams, and establish 3-5 pilot test bases.

Table 1 Forecast of seawater desalina-tion demand in China（104 m3/d）



18

Membrane Technologies for Water Practices in TaiwanChihping Huang1, Kuo-Lun Tung2, 3, Duu-Jong Lee2, 4, Da-Ming Wang2, 4 and Yu-Chun Su1

1. Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan2. R&D Center for Membrane Technology, Chung Yuan University, Chung Li, Taiwan3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Chung Yuan University,Chung Li, Taiwan4. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

AbstractTaiwan’s annual rainfall averages 2,510 mm, which is 3.5 times more than the average annual rainfall of the world. However, the distribution of water resources in Taiwan is uneven, both in time and space, with nearly 80 percent of precipitation falling between May and October. Due to the dramatic topographical changes in Taiwan, water resources are difficult to retain in rivers. These conditions make the management of water resources difficult, and Taiwan is categorized by the United Nations as a coun-try with water shortage problems. To sustain the water supply in Taiwan, increasing research interest has been drawn to membrane separation technologies in recent years due to the excellent effluent quality which meets the requirements of water recy-cling and water reuse. In this article, we reviewed recent applications of membrane technologies in desalination, water treatment and wastewater treatment in Taiwan.

19


1 Application of membrane technology for desalination, water treatment and wastewater treatment in Taiwan

In the past, the application of mem-branes in Taiwan focused on the preparation of ultrapure water for semi-conductor fabrication, a major indus-try in Taiwan in the past two decades. Recently, membranes have been widely applied in the desalination and purification of drinking water (Lai et al., 2009). Membranes have also been widely applied in Taiwan to recycle industrial wastewater due to strict legis-lation. Ultrafiltration (UF) is used to treat wastewater from chemical mechani-cal polishing (CMP), while the mem-brane bioreactor (MBR) has been gen-erally applied in treating wastewater from thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) in the past few years.

1.1 Desalination Water shortage is a problem for the offshore islands, such as Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu (Figure1). Seawater desalination seems a feasible solution to the problem. A brief description of the RO plants is given below.Ten RO units are in operation in Penghu islands. The capacity of the largest unit is 7,000 CMD. Two more units are under construction, one in 5,500 CMD and the other in 750 CMD. In Kinmen there is a RO unit with a capacity of 2,000 CMD, and in Matsu four RO units are running with a total capacity of 2,500 CMD. There is no RO unit on the main island, but two RO units, each with a capacity of 30,000 CMD, are being planned. One is to be placed in Taoyuan and the other in Hsinchu. By 2011, the total capacity of RO desali-nation in Taiwan will reach 21,900 CMD (Water Resource Agency, 2010).(1) Taoyuan: a RO desalination plant with a capacity of 30,000 CMD (under planning).(2) Hsinchu: a RO desalination plant

(1) Taoyuan

(2) Hsinchu HsinTaoyuan

(3) Kaohsiung

(4) Penghu

(5) Kinmen

Figure 1. Locations of RO desalination or drinking-waterpurification plants (Lai et al., 2009).

with a capacity of 30,000 CMD (under planning).(3) Kaohsiung: two plants of UF+low pres-sure RO (LPRO) for drinking-water purifica-tion, with a total capacity of 260,000 CMD (in operation).(4) Penghu: 10 RO plants in operation with a total capacity of about 18,000 CMD, and two more plants are under construc-tion with the total capacity of 6,250 CMD.(5) Kinmen: a RO desalination plant with a capacity of 2,000 CMD (in operation).

1.2 Drinking-water purificationIn the southern part of Taiwan, especially in the Kaohsiung area,the quality of drink-ing water was poor. The urgent need for the improvement of water quality became a political issue several years ago. Two water-purification membrane units, with UF plus low-pressure RO (LPRO), were operated for more than three years at the Kaotan (225,000 CMD) and Ong-kon-yuan (36,000 CMD) water treatment plants. A Taiwanesecopany, Kintech Tech-nology Co., is in charge of the design and operation of these membrane units. The company produces its own PVC membranes for the


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Pre-filter + Ultrafilter

CMP wastewater

Activated carbon Ion exchangers RO UPW pretreatment

On-line MonitorConductivity: 80-100 μs/cmTurbidity : 0.03 NTU

Off-line MoniotorSilica : 50 ppmTOC: 500-700 ppb

On-line MonitorConductivity: 5-10

μs/cm

Silica : 1.5 ppbTOC : 20 ppbTurbidity : 0.003 NTU

Taiwan has become the fourth largest semiconductor manufacturer worldwide. The industry generated a gross production of US$ 53.33 billion in 2010, accounting for 12% of the gross national product. Chemi-cal mechanical polishing (CMP) has emerged as a preferred planarization technology in the manufacture of multi-level integrated circuits (IC), and both dielectric and metal films are amenable to planarization using CMP. As the IC size grows smaller than 250 nm and the wafer size expands to 8 inch and beyond, CMP is the only polishing technique that can provide global planarization. However, CMP consumes a large amount of ultra-pure water. In 2007, about 320,000 CMD of CMP wastewater was produced in Taiwan. In general, the CMP wastewater contains sub-micron particles and has high alkalin-ity, turbidity, total solids content and silica content. Most semiconductor manufac-

ers in Taiwan use coagulation flocculation to treat the CMP wastewater. However, semiconductor manufacturers inside the Science Parks in Taiwan are requested to recycle 65-75% of water from the total con-sumptive use and 80-85% of water in the production process. It is estimated that almost 30-40% of ultrapure water is con-sumed in the CMP process in the semicon-ductor fabrication plant (commonly called a fab). As the conventional coagulation flocculation treatment cannot meet the requirement, the membrane separation process has become more and more popular in treating the CMP wastewater (Pan et al., 2005) Figure 2 is a flowchart of the CMP waste-water treatment process in a fab of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. In this CMP wastewater stream, oxide-CMP and metal-CMP are mixed and the average particle size of the wastewater is around 173 nm. By using UF, the conductiv-ity, turbidity, silica and TOC in the wastewa-ter can be reduced to 80-100 µS/cm, 0.03 NTU, 50 ppm and 500-700 ppm, respec-tively. Activated carbon and ion exchange resins are applied to polish the UF effluent before it enters the RO unit. RO, the final unit, ensures the effluent quality meets the requirements of recycling water before the effluent is recycled to the ultrapure water production system. The conductivity, turbid-ity, silica and TOC in the RO effluent are 5-10 µS/cm, 0.003 NTU, 1.5 ppb and 20 ppb, respectively.

Figure 2. Flowchart of the CMP wastewater treatment process

ultrafiltration units and imports RO mem-branes for the LPRO units. The UF membrane has a pore size of 0.1 µm, a hydrophilic surface and acid toler-ance (pH 2-13). The silt density index (SDI) of the UF effluent can be maintained lower than 2 and the operation pressure is set at 1.0 kg/cm2.The material of the spiral wound LPROmembranes is thin film composite polyamide (TFC-PA)

1.3 Industrial wastewater reclamation and process water production(a) CMP wastewater reclamation: UF+RO

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(b) Ultrapure water production: UF/RO/UFTo meet the requirement of recycling 80-85% of the process water and 65-75% of the total water used, electronic manufacturers are forced to recycle and reuse wastewater. However, as shown in Table 1, the requirements of ultrapure water qual-ity in the electronic industry are very high, especially in the 12 inch IC fab. There-fore, in the final polishing step in the ultrapure production system, the UF unit is always applied to ensure the ultrapure water quality. The pore size of the UF mem-brane is usually around 6,000 to 10,000 Da. For example, the pore size of the final UF is 6,000 Da at an 8 inch fab and 10,000 Da at a 12 inch fab of a semiconductor manufacturer in the Hsinchu Science Park. Due to the requirement of a high recov-ery rate of ultrapure water in fab, two UF units are connected in series in the process to attain 100% recovery. Membrane cleaning (physical and chemical cleaning) is not usually used in the final UF unit in order to avoid contaminating the ultrapure water. UF membranes are replaced when the trans-membrane pressure (TMP) increases to 2.5 bar. The Microza OLT series produced by Asahi (Pall Corpora-tion) are the major UF membranes used in the semiconductor industry. UF mem-branes are also used as a pretreatment of the RO influent whose pore size is usually around 15,000 to 50,000 Da.

Item

Resistivity (at 25 ℃ )

Bacteria

Tem perature

Particles smaller than 0.2 nm



Dissolved oxygen

TOC

Chlor ide

SiO2

Sodium

Calcium

Anions: NH4,Br,F,NO 3,PO4

Metals:Al,Ba,Cr,Cu,Fe,Li,Mg

Boron

Unit

MΩ -cm

CFU/L

℃

-

--

ppb

ppb

ppb

ppb

ppb

ppb

ppb

ppb

ppb

Specifications12” IC fab

≧18.2

＜1

24±1

＜100/L

＜100/L

＜200/L

＜1

＜1

＜0.05

＜1

＜0.03

＜0.05

＜0.02

＜0.02

＜0.05

8” IC fab

≧18

＜5

24±1

-

＜4/mL

-

≦9

≦2.5

＜0.2

≦3.5

＜0.2

＜0.2

＜0.2

＜0.2

＜0.2

TFT LCD

＞18

＜10

24±1

＜1/mL

＜10/mL

-

＜30 mg/L

＜30 mg/L

-

＜1

-

-

-

-

-

Color Filter

＞17

＜10

24±1

＜1/mL

＜10/mL

-

＜30 mg/L

＜30 mg/L

-

＜1

-

-

-

-

PDP BGA PCB

＞17 ＞17 ＞1

＜10 ＜10 ＜10

24±1 24±1 24±1

＜1/mL - -

＜10/mL - -

- - -

＜30 mg/ - -

＜30 mg/L - -

- - -

＜1 - -

- - -

- - -

- - -

- - -

Table 1. Requirements of ultrapure water quality in the electronic industry

(c) LCD wastewater reclamation Taiwan has become the second largest TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crys-tal Display) producer within two decades. Amount of wastewater discharged from the manufacturing TFT-LCD has substantially increased (exceeding 200,000 CMD). Organic

solvents used in TFT-LCD manufacturing processes account for more than 33% of the total TFT-LCD wastewater. The main organic components of the TFT-LCD wastewater are the stripper (ie, dimethyl sulphoxide, DMSO or mono-ethanolamine, MEA), the developer (tetra-methyl ammonium hydroxide,

22

2.1 R&D Center for Membrane Technology(CMT) at Chung Yuan UniversityThe Center, led by funding director Prof. Juin-Yih Lai and director Prof. Kuo-Lun Tung, is a comprehensive membrane technology center. It is a leader in several fields of fundamental membrane research in Taiwan, such as membrane formation mechanisms, morphology-control tech-niques, membrane modification tech-niques, measurement of membrane charges and measurement of free volume (e.g. Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS) technique). The Taiwanese government has funded the Center three projects to help it extend its bench-scale expertise to pilot-scale. One of the projects is funded by he Ministry of Education, with the mission to set up a comprehensive platform for membrane research for both local membranologists and the international membrane society. The other two projects are funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, with a special focus on the application of mem-brane technology in environmental protection, such as the recovery of organic solvents, wastewater treatment and desalination techniques.

2.2 Water Research Center at National Chaio Tung UniversityThe Center, led by Prof. Chihpin Huang, was integrated into the Disaster Preven-tion Center at National Chiao Tung University in 2009. The Center has 4 post-doctoral fellows, 7 research assistants, 6 PhD students, and 33 master’s students dedicating to water-related research. The

TMAH) and chelating agents (Chen and Chen, 2004). These compounds are categorized as non- or slow-biodegradable organic compounds. Therefore, mem-brane bioreactors (MBR) having high MLSS and excellent organic compounds removal are considered a promising tech-nique for the TFT-LCD wastewater treat-ment.In 2000, the first MBR unit using Zenon hollow fiber membranes, which has a capacity of 1,270 CMD, was built in a TFT-LCD factory. Two more MBR units using Zenon hollow fiber membranes were then installed in two TFT-LCD facto-ries with a total capacity of 800 and 4,200 CMD in 2002 and 2003. Zenon Environmental Inc. takes most of the MBR market in Taiwan. The company has constructed MBR units in more than 12 factories with a total capacity of about 82,000 CMD in Taiwan. Some of the factories combine MBR and RO to recycle wastewater. After using MBRs, the BOD, COD and total nitrogen in the wastewater can be reduced to 6.5, 35.2 and 34.2, respectively. Moreover, SDI in the MBR effluent can be maintained at less than 2.3, which improves the RO performance in recycling wastewater.

2 Government-funded pilot proj-ectsIn Taiwan, fundamental research on membranes is versatile and has grown steadily in recent years. However, almost all the membranes and integrated systems for desalination and water treat-ment in Taiwan are imported except for a few microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes. Also, the setting up of advanced membrane processes still largely relies on foreign companies. In an attempt to close the gap between academic research and industrial application, the government has funded several pilot projects with an aim to eventually trans-fer the technology to industries. Three prestigious research institutes in Taiwan

are now carrying out these projects: the R&D Center for Membrane Technology (CMT) at Chung Yuan University, the Water Research Center at National Chaio Tung University and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).

23



Each year the government funds many research projects at ITRI. The develop-ment of electrodialysis techniques seems to be a major interest for the Water & Environment Analysis Technol-ogy Division, currently led by Dr. Shan-Shan Chou. The group has helped more than 10 companies construct electrodialysis units to recover water from wastewater, with the largest unit having a capacity of 2,400 CMD. This group is also involved in the devel-opment of MBR systems for wastewater treatment. They have helped several companies to build MBR units, the larg-est of which has a capacity of 5,000 CMD. In addition, they are currently cooperating with a local company to develop a new membrane for MBR. A pilot unit with a capacity of 800 CMD has been built to test this new mem-brane.

SummaryDue to the limited water resources in Taiwan, the development of advanced membrane technologies is crucial to water sustainability. We believe more and more membrane units will be con-structed in Taiwan for desalination, water treatment as well as wastewater treatment and reclamation in the near future.

ReferencesChen, T.K, Chen, J.N., 2004. Combined membrane bioreactor (MBR) and reverse osmosis (RO) system for thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display TFT-LCD, industrial wastewater recycling. Water Science and Technology 50(2), 99-106.Lai, J.Y., Tung, K.L., Liu, Y.L., Chung, T.W., Lee, K.R., Wang, D.M., 2009. Mem-brane researches and applications in Taiwan. Membrane 34(1), 26-33.Pan, R.J., Huang, C., Jiang, W., Chen, C., 2005. Treatment of wastewater con-taining nano-scale silica particles by

objective of this Center is to maintain a balance between fundamental research and applied studies. The former is principally funded by the National Science Council (NSC) and the Water Resources Agency of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The latter is largely funded by Taiwan Water Coop-eration. The Center focuses on three main research fields: membrane tech-nologies, nano-scale catalysts and public water supply. In membrane technologies, the TiO2 composite mem-brane in membrane bioreactors, nano-silver surface modification of RO membranes in seawater desalination and ultrasonic time-domain reflecom-etry for monitoring membrane fouling have been developed to mitigate membrane fouling. In nano-scale catalysts, a novel nano TiO2/ FeO com-posite (NTFC), which can retard the electron-hole recombination in TiO2 and the formation of oxide layer on the surface of FeO, has been synthesized to enhance the degradation of organic contaminants in water. In public water supply, a novel supervi-sory control for coagulant dosing has been developed and a high-purity PACl coagulant has been prepared and applied to improve the perfor-mance of water treatment plants. Sludge from water treatment plants has also been reused in brick-making to reduce waste. In addition, operational performance evaluation and enhancement (OPEE) have been established for upgrading perfor-mance in water treatment plants.

2.3 Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)ITRI is a national-level applied research organization which works across multiple industrial technology fields. It is devoted to R&D closely relevant to the industries and makes a great effort to improve Taiwan’s industrial technolo-

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dead-end microfiltration: evaluation of pretreatment methods. Desalination 179, 31-40.Water Resources Agency, 2010. Statistic of Water Resources, 2341-01-03. Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan.

CSIRO

Curtin University of Technology

Deakin University

Edith Cowan University

Flinders University

Monash University

Murdoch University*

University of NSW

University of Queensland

University of South Australia

University of Technology Sydney

Victoria University

University of Western Australia

*Administering Organisation

The National Centre for Excellence in Desalination, AustraliaNeil Palmer, CEO, NCEDA David H Furukawa, Chief Scientific Officer, NCEDA

1 Introduction The National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia (NCEDA) was established in 2009 from a Federal Government initiative to lead research and build national capac-ity and capabilities in desalination. It is a consortium of 13 partner organisations with Murdoch University as the Administering Organisation. Table 1 Partner Organisations

Its establishment followed a period of consultation with universities, research organisations and the industry. A research roadmap was produced to guide the Centre to deliver on its man-date to:•Optimise and adapt desalination technol-ogy for use in Australia’s unique circum stances•Develop suitable desalination technol-ogy for use in rural and regional areas•Efficiently and affordably reduce the carbon footprint of desalination facilities and technologiesFive priority research themes were estab-lished:•Pretreatment•Reverse osmosis desalting

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•Novel desalting•Concentrate management•Social, environmental and economic issuesEach of the 13 partner organisations contributes a membership fee to cover the administrative costs of the Centre. This entitles them to apply for grants from a $20m Federal Government fund over a five year period which is admin-istered by the Department of Sustain-ability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. There have been two funding rounds in April and Octo-ber 2009 which have committed approximately $5.9m to a total of 23 approved research projects. Finalisa-tion of these projects is subject to completion and execution of Project Agreements with the Administering and Partner Organisation. It should be noted that the two rounds of funding so far include $5.9m of Centre funds, $13.2m of in-kind contri-butions from partners and $2.3m in leveraged cash from industry, a total of $21.7m of research activity.

2 Round 1 Projects and Partners•Developing highly conductive graphene electrodes for capacitive desalination:University of South Australia, SA Water•Development of a novel low grade heat driven desalination technology:The University of Western Australia, WA Geothermal Centre of Excellence, BHP Billiton, Worsley Alumina•Evaluation of vibratory shear membrane technology for concentrate minimisation & brine recovery/recycling:Curtin University, Monash University, Orica Watercare, Water Corporation, New Logic Research Inc., UTEP •High water recovery inland desalina-tion using membrane distillation with ceramic membranes:The University of Queensland, Victoria University, Ceramipore, Tarong Energy, The Pumphouse

•Nanostructure of diatoms: A predictive model for species sustainability:Flinders University, SARDI, SA Water•Highly productive and selective bio-organic hybrid membrane water filters:The University of Queensland, Stanford University•Management of brine disposal into inland ecosystems:Edith Cowan University, WA Centre of Excellence in Ecohydrology, Rio Tinto (Dampier Salt Ltd), Water Corporation, WA Department of Environment and Conservation•Membrane flocculation hybrid system as pretreatment to brackish water reverse osmosis desalination system: emphasis on chemical use reduction and recovery: University of Technology Sydney, Curtin University, IFTS France, KAUST Saudi Arabia, State Water NSW, Coliban Water, Steri-flow Filtration Systems•Reverse osmosis brine management by membrane distillation crystallisation:Victoria University, CSIRO, CWMWater, Siemens, Osmoflo •Public perception of, and response to, desalination in Australia:Deakin University, Victoria University, Murdoch University, Edith Cowan Univer-sity, Melbourne Water, Yarra Valley Water•Reuse of reverse osmosis membranes:The University of New South Wales, Victoria University, Monash University, SkyJuice Foundation, Water Corpora-tion, DOW Chemical, SA Water, Sydney Water

3 Round 2 Projects and Partners•Assessing and mitigating environmen-tal impacts of SWRO outfalls on marine benthic organisms: Deakin University, University of Western Australia•Tjuntjuntjara remote inland indigenous community solar/waste energy ground-water desalination project: Murdoch University, WA Deparment of Housing, Memsys Clearwater Distribution Pte Ltd

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•Control of organic membrane fouling through limitation and control of extra-cellular microbial product: Murdoch University, Environmental Biotechnology Co-operative Research Centre•Application of capacitive deionisation in inland brackish water desalination: University of South Australia, LT Green, Power and Water Authority, SA Water•Silica removal from groundwater for reverse osmosis water recovery enhancement and waste brine volume reduction: Victoria University•Strategies for membrane fouling control in desalination pre-treatment: University of NSW, Curtin University of Technology; Water Corporation, Veolia, Siemens•Fertilizers as draw solutes for forward osmosis desalination: a novel approach for fertigation in the Murray Darling Basin: University of Technology Sydney, Korea University, Yale University, NSW State Water Corporation, SK Energy•Real time detection and management of biofouling conditioning films in seawa-ter reverse osmosis: University of NSW, University of SA, InPhaze Pty Ltd, SA Water, Sydney Water•Development of universally applicable coatings and additives for state of the art reverse osmosis and pre-treatment: Flinders University, Wind Prospects Pty Ltd, SA Water, Siemens•Mitigation of biofouling using natural polysaccharide surface coating: CSIRO•Non brittle ceramic hollow fibre mem-branes: Monash University•Development of cleaning guidelines for desalination membrane users: Victoria University, Nalco, Integrated Elements

4 CommercialisationThe Centre has a very strong commer-cialisation focus and promotes the development of marketable ideas. A condition of funding is that the Centre retains ownership of intellectual property developed as a result of the project, with licensing rights for participants. Through the Centre’s Commercialisation Advisory

Committee, chaired by Mr Larry Lopez, access to venture capital and manage-ment support is available to assist the commercialisation process. The Chair of the NCEDA is Mr Graeme Rowley, a Director of Fortescue Metals Group. The Chair of the Research Advi-sory Committee is Mr Rhett Butler of Siemens Memcor. These appointments reflect underlying commercial acumen to balance the significant academic participation through the partner organi-sations. The Chief Scientific Officer (Mr David Furukawa), is one of the best know proponents of desalination with broad and long international experience across industry and academia. The Centre’s Chief Operating Officer (Sharon Humphris) and Commercialisa-tion Manager (Dr Patty Washer) have very extensive experience in translating research to commercial outcomes. An experienced Facility Manager from the desalination industry is expected to be appointed in the near future. The focus on commercial outcomes means that we would like to see a bias toward applied research. However, the result of the current two rounds based on requests for proposals has resulted in a slight bias toward fundamental research. The Centre is considering a different approach to the next funding round so that there is more opportunity for practi-cal design and operating issues to drive future projects.

5 Research Mandate CoverageAnalysis of the projects approved to date suggests there is a good coverage of the Centre’s research mandate and priority research themes. New technologies that are worthy of mention include capacitive deionisa-tion, a technique to optimise removal of salt ions without the need to push water through a membrane being undertaken by University of SA. Membrane distilla-tion, a technique to pass water vapour rather than liquid water through a mem-

27



brane is a potential to reduce energy, provided a source of heat is available. Solar energy is being considered in the Tjuntjuntjara project in outback WA. There are a number of projects looking at reducing concentrate volume and examining impact of concentrate on inland ecosystems, important issues for remote and regional Australia.One project is examining public perception of desalination amongst Australians, and another considering re-use of reverse osmosis membranes as an alternative to going to landfill.A novel approach using forward osmo-sis is being examined with concen-trated fertilizer as the draw solute. This will increase efficiency of “fertigation” – ie using the water supply to distribute essential nutrients to crops.

6 CollaborationA significant benefit of the Centre’s operation has been to facilitate and encourage collaboration between Australian universities and research institutions, water utilities and private companies. There has also been signifi-cant international collaboration which exposes the Australian desalination

research community to leading think-ers and encourages interchange through fellowships and post doctoral opportunities. Eleven international companies and overseas universities are currently included in the Centre’s research programs. The interaction of the Centre with private industry is intended to help build up industry capability. However, this has not been developed as much as we would like and needs more focus. Activities of direct relevance include seminars and training courses (technical and commercial), provision of on site testing locations, opportunity to contribute the Centre’s visitor facili-ties, sponsorship of the Rockingham Desalination Research Facility. A sequel to the first Biofouling Seminar held in Fremantle in October 2010 is scheduled to be held in late June in Sydney. The NCEDA will contribute to the upcoming IDA World Congress to be held in Perth in September 2011, which will coincide with the Centre’s Grand Opening, an event expected to provide significant international expo-sure.

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Three bores have been drilled to tap into two underground aquifers. One is high salin-ity (about 80% seawater), one brackish (less than 1,000 mg/L TDS) and a recharge bore into the saline aquifer for disposal of combined permeate and concentrate. The pilot testing facility will comprise a tank farm for blending feed water, a reticulated feed supply to six tie-in points, drainage, power supply and access to an instrumenta-tion and control system. Construction of the facilities is expected to be complete in early June, although some testing work is expected to commence before this to meet project deadlines.

8 ConclusionThe NCEDA is now into its second year with a strong sense of achievement in terms of establishment, appointment of key people, research projects and progress on the Rockingham Facility. 2011 will be big year in terms of activity with the end of the year seeing completion and full operation of the Rockingham Desalination Research Facility with pilot scale projects, research laboratories, office facilities for partner organisations, a multimedia conference and visitor centre and a “hands on” Edulab for practical demonstration of water science and desalination technologies.Our ultimate objective is to establish a sustainable centre for research and industry capability development of international renown which reflects the “can do” attitude underpinning Australian know-how.

Figure 1 The Rockingham Desalination Research Facility

7 Research Facility ProgressThe Rockingham Desalination Research Facility is located at the Rockingham Campus of Murdoch University. It comprises a substantial two storey solid construction building (the former Engineering school) and will include offices, laboratories, a workshop and pilot plant testing area. Design of the new facility has been undertaken by CH2MHill and a contract is about to be let for the building modifications and the pilot testing facility.

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Water Desalination in the Indian ContextSaly T. Panicker & P. K. Tewari Desalination Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,

1 IntroductionPopulation and economic growth are causing pressure on freshwater resources around the world. India has a highly seasonal pattern of rainfall with 50% of rain falling in 15 days and most of the river flows occurring in just four months. There are areas such as the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu, Saurash-tra and Kutch, Western Rajasthan, etc., which face perennial water shortage. In several parts of the country, the ground water has total dissolved solids ranging from 1000 to 3000 ppm. In some other parts, people are known to be suffering from excess fluoride, nitrate, iron, arse-nic and microbial contaminations in the water. Hence, a holistic approach is required to cope with the freshwater needs of the country. It includes,• water purification• brackish water desalination • seawater desalination in coastal areas• recovery of water from effluents for reuse• conventional water supply schemes including rainwater harvesting

2 Status of Desalination in India In India, desalination has potential as a possible means to augment water supply for meeting the growing demand of clean water. Requirement exists for all sizes of desali-nation plants, ranging from small and community size to large capacities. The growth of industry has encompassed the entire spectrum ranging from small to large capacity plants utilizing both the thermal and membrane routes. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai is engaged in devel-oping advanced Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Thermal Desalination technologies,

while contribution of Council of Scien-tific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is in the field of RO and Electrodialysis (ED). Defence Research Laboratory, Jodhpur has also developed ED system. National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is engaged in development of desalina-tion systems using ocean thermal energy. Some of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and universities are also engaged in developmental activities on desalination/water purification tech-nologies.2.1 Membrane DesalinationThe developmental efforts of the national laboratories and public & private sectors have led to the installa-tion and operation of RO plants of capacities ranging from Kilo-Litres per Day (KLD) to Million Litres per Day (MLD), in water scarce coastal areas of India to provide potable water from seawa-ter.

Fig.1 SWRO Plant at NDDP, Kalpakkam

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A 3.8 MLD sea water RO desalination plant is installed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) at Ramanathapuram for state govern-ment to provide drinking water for people. Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) has recently commissioned

a 100 MLD seawater desalination plant at Chennai on DBOOT basis set up by IVRCL, Hyderabad along with BEFESA, Spain. BARC has provided technical advice for the plant. Another 100 MLD seawater desalination plant is under construction at Chennai on Engineering Procurment Construction (EPC) basis. In Gujarat, seawater reverse osmosis plants have been put up for industrial use by several industries.Recently, Ion Exchange India has commissioned a 26 MLD Sea-water RO Desalination Plant at Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Chennai. ROCHEM Separations (I) Ltd. has supplied several small and medium size RO plants for seawater desalination on-board ships and land based applicationsWith time, the design of membrane based desalination system may undergo significant changes. Conventional pretreatment systems may be replaced by membrane based pretreatment (ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) etc.,), providing better operating envi-ronment for the RO membrane, thus

BARC has developed design methodol-ogy of seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) system and based on the experience gained from the 100 KLD SWRO plant at Trombay, it has setup a 1.8 MLD SWRO system (Fig.1) as a part of Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant (NDDP) at Kalpakkam. The product water is supplied to the drinking water reservoir.Apart from this, desalination plants (5 KLD capacity each) for disaster man-agement were designed and installed in the tsunami affected areas in the south east coast. The design features of these units are such that, they could operate under wide range of feed water quality in terms of physical, chemical and biological contaminants with minimal pretreatment. Fig.2 shows pictures of the trailer mounted desalination unit.

Fig.2 Trailer Mounted RO Plant

Fig.3 Indigenous Membranes Developed in BARC

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helping to extend its life. Energy Recov-ery systems evolved over the years which are capable of recovering a major part of the energy from the reject stream, may be improved further. Next generation better quality RO mem-brane may be introduced changing the present scenario to a great extent.National research laboratories such as BARC and CSIR are also involved in the development of membrane. Cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate blend membranes were developed in the early eighties and the technologies were transferred to several parties. These first generation membranes suffered due to relatively poor solute rejection, higher operating pressure and less membrane life owing to chemical & biological deterioration. At present, the laboratories in the country are successful in developing TFCP brackish water membranes in spiral configuration (Fig.3). Efforts are being made to further improve the flux and solute rejection, suitable for seawater desalination. Efforts are also directed towards the development of tailor made membranes for effluent treat-ment and removal of specific contami-nants. The work on development of nano-composite membrane for water treatment and purification applications has been recently taken up by BARC. Ion Exchange (I) Ltd., Goa and Permion-ics (I) Ltd, Vadodara are the private parties in the country, who have facili-ties to make spiral elements. National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) Pune is involved in the development of UF membranes. Central Glass & Ceramics Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata is working on the development of microfil-tration systems in collaboration with BARC.2.2 Thermal DesalinationDevelopment of thermal desalination technologies using low grade and

waste heat for seawater desalination was initiated by BARC. Technology was evolved through pilot plant studies. The experience was utilized in the design of a 4.5 MLD capacity Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) system installed as a part of NDDP. The design was aimed at saving energy by designing the plant with a high performance ratio (PR) and less capital cost using long tubes and more number of flash stages with better thermody-namic efficiency. In Lakshadweep islands, a desalination plant was set up for producing 10 KLD of distilled quality water using waste heat of the engine cooling water of a Diesel Generator set. Development of thermal desalination technologies with value addition such as Multi-Effect Distillation (MED), Vapor Compression (VC) and Low Temperature Evaporation (LTE) with cooling tower has also been demonstrated by BARC at Trombay. A 100 KLD desalination system utilizing the ocean thermal energy for seawater desalination was set up and commis-sioned by NIOT at Kavaratti, Union Terri-tory of Lakshadweep. BARC had provided consultancy on design review to NIOT for this plant, which is based on low temperature flashing process. IDE Technologies (Israel) has installed quite a few MED and MVC plants in the western and southern parts of India. 2.3 Nuclear DesalinationNuclear desalination is defined as the production of potable water from seawater in a facility in which a nuclear reactor is used as the source of energy for the desalination process. Interest in using nuclear energy for producing pure water has been growing worldwide in the past decade. This has been moti-vated by a variety of reasons from eco-nomic competitiveness of nuclear energy to energy supply diversification, from conservation of limited fossil fuel

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BARC has set up and commissioned a first-of-its-kind, the largest nuclear desalination plant based on hybrid technology at Kalpakkam (Fig.4). The hybrid technology has several advan-tages (Fig.5). It has provision for redun-dancy, utilization of streams from one to another and production of two qualities of water for the best utiliza-tion. The desalinated water produced from MSF is of distilled quality which is good for high end industrial use. The desalinated water produced from RO is of potable quality, which is supplied to nearby areas. The two products can also be blended for either human or industrial consumption. NDDP consists of a 4.5 MLD MSF system and a 1.8 MLD RO system, coupled to Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS). The requirements of seawater, steam and electrical power for the desalination plant are met from MAPS. The RO unit incorporates necessary pretreatment and an energy recovery system. As many of the water scarce urban areas

Fig.4 Nuclear Desalination Demonstration Plant, Kalpakkam

resources to environmental protection and spin-off effect of nuclear technology in the industrial development. It involves three technologies; nuclear, desalination and cou-pling system. In this, both the reactor and the desalination system are located at a common site and energy is produced for the desalination system. It involves some degree of common or shared facilities, services, man-power and sea water intake & outfall structures.

are lying in the coastal regions, there is a great potential for seawater desali-nation. These areas are also witnessing rapid industrialization requiring distilled quality water for high end applications. The hybrid technology is thus highly promising in urban areas of coastal regions.

Another nuclear desalination plant of 30 KLD capacity based on low temperature evaporation is coupled to the CIRUS reactor at Trombay, for utilizing a part of the waste heat from the Primary Coolant Water (PCW) system and produces desalted water to meet the make-up water requirement of the reactor (Fig.6).

Fig.5 Features of Hybrid Desalination System

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Fig.6 Desalination Plant Using Waste Heat of CIRUS, Trombay India now leads the world in nuclear desalination. BARC (India) is active as a member of the Technical Working Group on Nuclear Desalination (TWG-ND) of Inter-national Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for providing advice and guidance for activities on nuclear desalination. BARC has been participating in Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs) of IAEA, sharing the expertise on nuclear desalination with other Member States such as Argentina, China, Egypt, France, Indonesia, Israel, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Technocrats from different countries have visited the nuclear desalination facilities in India for undergoing training under IAEA Technical Cooperation and bi-lateral programs.

3 ConclusionCost of desalination is one of the challenges involved in setting up more number of plants in India. For arid or coastal areas, locally produced water through desalination may be cheaper than transporting it from far away places. Affordability, acceptability and accessibility are the key concerns being addressed by the desalination commu-nity in the country. The on-going R&D efforts towards improving the efficiency & life of the systems and usage of cheaper materials are expected to help growth of the desali-nation industry.

4 References1. P. K. Tewari, ‘ The Potential of Desalination in India’, Int. J. Nuclear Desalination, Vol2, No. 4 (2007) pp 303-3102. P. K. Tewari, ‘Nuclear Energy for Water Security’, Atom for Peace : An International Jour-nal, Vol 1, Nos. 2/3 (2008) pp 199-205

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The Study of Chinese Desalination Development 2010-2011

Kun Yang, Youzhi Guo, Yan Yang

1National strategies of desalinationChina is a developing country with the huge pressure of energies and resources incomparable with any other countries in the world due to the huge population, and the development of “blue territories” is much more significant to future devel-opment of China. Therefore, the level of Chinese desalination development will influence developing status and eco-nomic decision-making of China. Some experts predict that by 2030 the popula-tion of China will reach 1.516 billion, and the crisis of water shortage may be much more serious than that of energy. Devel-oping the technology of seawater utiliza-tion including seawater desalination and direct utilization of seawater to industry and living will not only support realization of the next economic goal, but also directly determine survival and develop-ment of the Chinese nation.As the Ministry of Land and Resources surveyed, among over 660 cities in China, there are over 400 cities lack in water, 114 of which suffer severe water shortage, 71 in north China and 43 in south China.

Even in the drainage area of the Changji-ang River, there are still 59 cities and 155 counties with water shortage. In terms of the global orientation of water resources in China, the reserves of water resources is 2800 billion m3, which is in the sixth place in the world, but the reserves per capita of fresh water resources is only 2125 m3, which is only 1/4 of global level, China is therefore classified as one of the 13 water-poor countries by the United Nations. Especially in coastal areas cover-ing 2/3 of Chinese economic aggregate with developed economy and dense population, the per capita water resources is mostly below 500 m3. By the end of 2009, the population in Beijing had increased sharply to 19.70 million, and the per capita water resources is 126.6 m3, which had replaced Tianjin (per capita water resources of 126.8 m3 ) as the largest city with water shortage in China. (Refer to the General Plan of Social and Economic Development of Beijing in 2010). Besides energy, water shortage has become the primary bottleneck restricting social and economic development in China.

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For some time, groundwater exploita-tion and water transfer are both vital methods to solve water shortage in China. However, these meth ods can only solve the problem of uneven spa-tial and temporal distribution of water other than increasing the overall reserves of fresh water resources. In long views, the reserves of fresh water in China is relatively stable, but the need for fresh water in economic and social development is rigidly increas-ing. Hence, besides saving the limited reserves, new increment must be achieved. Industrialization of seawater utilization in coastal areas may save much more fresh water for the inland, which means that the reserves of fresh water is increased successively. In this sense, industrialization of desalination not only can resolve the conflicts of fresh water supply in coastal areas, but also has strategic significance to gen-erally solve the problem of water short-age in China. The National Develop-ment & Reform Committee plans that about 1/3 of water consumption in coastal areas can be supplied through desalination before 2020.

2 Rapid expansion of desalination capacityBy Oct. 2010, 65 sets of desalination facilities have been established, and the daily desalination capacity has

nearly reached 612.6 thousand m3, which has surpassed the last year by 52%. The capacity of the largest desali-nation project under construction is 100 thousand m3 per day. Generally, desalination market of China is quickly growing to a regional market with certain global influence and great improvement on component supply, equipment manufacture, assistant equipments, engineering design and installation. The desalination in China is under quick industrialization promoted by market demand, however, the core elements of desalination are still dispersed, and there is still no core enterprises driving the development of desalination. Besides, the bottleneck and problems blocking development of desalination in China are not solved. Therefore, such condition offers multi-nationals an opportunity to enter the Chinese market. At present, corpora-tions such as IDE of Israel, BEFESA of Spain, HYFLUX of Singapore have occu-pied larger market shares.With the continuous development of desalination in China, the average capacity of single facility is successively increasing from 2500 m3 per day in 2005 to over 6550 m3 per day nowadays. The average capacity can reflect the eco-nomic level of Chinese projects and the investment capability under a relatively poor status, thus we should realize that we still have a long way to compare with the world level.

36

3 Policy and tendency of desalinationIn 2006, the National Development & Reform Committee initiated the issuance of Special Plans for Seawater Utilization in China with relevant departments, and the daily capacity of 800-1000 thou-sand m3 will be reached in 2010. As things go, there is still a big gap between current scale and the goal. According to the analysis, many places in China intend to construct desalination projects, and the most important reason for the gap is the low water price policy of the government, inversion of the cost and price restrains the enthusiasm of coastal areas on constructing desalination proj-ects, and the government does not reach an agreement on the policies of investment and price subsidies. Besides, the problems of ineffective implementa-tion and incompatibility of the policies supporting desalination development are not solved perfectly, for example, desalinated water is still not a part of municipal water supply system, desali-nation projects have difficulty in invest-ment and financing and can hardly enjoy the national preferential policy on infrastructure projects. Even so, there are still some enterprises and investment corporations exploring positive elements of desalination; they are mostly aiming at long-term development in the future to influence the future structure of Chinese market. For example, the nuclear-power enterprises plan to deal with desalination industry, integrate market factors and attempt to form the management structure of water and power integration. The capacity of desalination coordinated by coastal power enterprises is 70-80% of the gross

capacity in China; it seems feasible for thermal power plants to develop desali-nation, however, the 5 larger power enterprises are much more interested in investing maritime solar and wind plants than seawater desalination projects; some steel and equipment manufactur-ers plan to engage in seawater desalina-tion; in addition, chlor-alkali and soda enterprises are researching the coupling technique of chlor-alkali and desalina-tion, and if the process can be opti-mized, it will be a new choice for the new coastal chlor-alkali projects.Though Chinese desalination has owned basic conditions of industrialization, it still has a long way to go in aspects such as research level, innovation capability, development and manufacture of equipments, design and integration of systems prominently reflected in the facts that the ability of scientific and technical innovation is relatively weak and the core technology and equipments still depend on foreign suppliers. Moreover, the uneven development of Chinese desalination and the unreasonable industrial chain reflect that the market mechanism needs to be further improved. In terms of technology and products, it is crucial to cut down the cost of desalination, and the long-term targets of desalination are promoting the localization of core parts such as membrane, materials of membrane and key facilities, intensifying R&D for new technologies, procedures, facilities and products of desalination with indepen-dent intellectual property, and enhanc-ing the capability of constructing large-scale desalination projects by ourselves.

Category Capacity of already established devices Capacity of the devices under construction

Time Quantity (set) Total capacity（104 m3/d）

Quantity (set) Total capacity（104 m3/d）

2010- 65 61.26 2 15

Table 1 Statistics of construction of desalination devices in China during the recent five years (quantity & scale)

* The total capacity contains the non-operated parts of the already established devices* Source of data: China Desalination Database

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4 Stably increased market demandWith decades of development, the Chinese market of desalination has formed a certain structure. A lot of coastal industrial enterprises have adopted desali-nation because of the advantages of surplus heat utilization and co-generation and water and power, and desalination is therefore applied to more and more industrial fields, especially in power indus-try. However, new changes have hap-pened to desalination in recent years. The industrial transfer of steel and chemical industries to coastal areas promotes the construction of desalination projects as infrastructures of coastal industrial parks, and the rapid growth of nuclear power in the last few years has expanded the new market of desalination. Besides, in the field of municipal water supply, seawater desalination adopted in coastal country-

1.Boiler water used in power industry. The rapid growth of this market is mainly oriented by the national industrial policy stipulating that the newly established coastal projects must adopt desalination as the water source, therefore, desalination has been widely applied due to the competitive advantages of renewable resources and low cost. Conse-quently, the purpose of optimizing the struc-ture of industrial water consumption is achieved; the market space of seawater desalination is expanded more quickly, and

Table 2 Desalination projects completed and put into operation in 2010

Project name Technical

type Capacity

(104 m 3/d) Industry Area

Desalination pro ject of Tian jin Northern Border Power Plant

MED 100000 Power Binhai District Tianjin

Desalination pro ject of Zhejiang Quzhou Island

SWRO 2500 Municipal Daishan Zhejiang

Desalination project of Qingdao Alkali Factory

SWRO 7000 Chemical Industry Qingdao Shandong

Desalination pro ject of Shandong Laizhou Power Plant

SWRO 7000 Power Laizhou Shandong

Desalination project of Guangzhou

Huilai Power Plant SWRO 17000 Power Huilai Guangdong

Desalination pro ject of Guangdong Huizhou Pinghai Power Plant

SWRO 17000 Power Pinghai Guangdong

Desalination pro ject of Fu jian Ningde Nuclear Power Plant

SWRO 11 000 Nuclear power Ningde Fujian

Desalination pro ject of Dalian

Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant SWRO 15 000 Nuclear power Dalian Liaoning

As the above tables show that, the total capacity of desalination has been increased. After 2005, construction of desalination projects has been quickened with averagely 4 or 5 projects finished every year, and the rate of newly-increased capacity of desalination in China is between 35% and 50% for consecutive years.

such condition is same for the boiler water market of power and metallurgy industries. It is estimated that, before 2010, the newly increased power in the coastal areas of China will be at least 35000 MW, which needs over 180 thousand tons of boiler water with high quality. At present, the procedures of adopting desalinated seawater to supply boiler water in coastal power plants have been relatively mature, e.g. the North China Power Bureau plans to universally adopt desalinated seawater as boiler water while establishing new coastal power plants. In coastal areas, desalinating seawater as boiler water will be the mainstream of the power industry.2supply for coastal steel and petrochemical industries, ports and boilers because of the integrative advantages of exhaust gas and residual heat generated during production. In order to opti mize the water supply structure, realize heat balance, reduce production cost and guarantee reliability of water for production, more and more coastal industrial enterprises have adopted seawater desalination facilities and become the new customers of desalination projects.3resources, most coastal areas suffer water shortage, which is much more serious in many islands. The water supply only depends on rainwater accumulation and shipment from the land, the cost may reach RMB50/ton, and the water supply is not guaranteed upon bad weathers. Seawater desalination may guarantee the water supply for the islands. The coastline of China is over 18000km, the coastal areas have developed economy and large demand of fresh water, and there are thousands of inhabited islands. Therefore, such market space is huge.


level islands is another important direction of the development. Seawater desalination has promoted the development of overall mar-kets of equipment manufacture, project design and installation, anti-rot materials and technical services, etc. At present, the domestic market scale has been up to thou-sands of billion RMB per year. Desalination is mainly applied in the following fields:

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such condition is same for the boiler water market of power and metallurgy industries. It is estimated that, before 2010, the newly increased power in the coastal areas of China will be at least 35000 MW, which needs over 180 thousand tons of boiler water with high quality. At present, the procedures of adopting desalinated seawater to supply boiler water in coastal power plants have been relatively mature, e.g. the North China Power Bureau plans to universally adopt desalinated seawater as boiler water while establishing new coastal power plants. In coastal areas, desalinating seawater as boiler water will be the mainstream of the power industry.2.More desalinated seawater is used as the water supply for coastal steel and petrochemical indus-tries, ports and boilers because of the integrative advantages of the large quantity of low pressure exhaust gas and residual heat generated during production. In order to opti mize the water supply structure, realize heat balance, reduce production cost and guarantee reliability of water for produc-tion, more and more coastal industrial enterprises have adopted seawater desalination facilities and become the new customers of desalination projects.3.Due to the unreasonable distribution of water resources, most coastal areas suffer water short-age, which is much more serious in many islands. The water supply only depends on rainwater accu-mulation and shipment from the land, the cost may reach RMB50/ton, and the water supply is not guar-anteed upon bad weathers. Seawater desalina-tion may guarantee the water supply for the islands. The coastline of China is over 18000km, the coastal areas have developed economy and large demand of fresh water, and there are thou-sands of inhabited islands. Therefore, such market space is huge.

5 Characteristics of seawater utilization environmentAccording to different water quality, temperatures and geographical conditions, some characteris-tics are reflected in technical development and market of seawater desalination in China. The south parts such as Zhejiang and Guangdong have better water quality and lower annual temperature difference, and the water shortage is mainly on islands and large industrial enterprises. Therefore, the water supply scale is small, and the requirement to cost is high. According to statistics, except several projects adopting the combination of reverse osmosis membrane and thermal method, the reverse osmosis is mainly adopted. The capacity of a single set of facility is usually below 2000 tons. Electrical energy is the main cost for smaller reverse osmosis devices, and the price of power supply may greatly influence profits of the projects. The main consumers are island water supply and enterprises, especially the power plants. At present, other projects with better pros-pects are Caofeidian Industrial Park Seawater Desalination Project, Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron Base Project and the nuclear power projects under planning and construction. The seawater desalination through thermal method assisted by membrane method under low temperature and multi-effect mode is applicable to the areas with worse water quality and larger temperature difference in northern China. At pres-ent, the desalination plants with the largest scales and most advanced technology adopting the advanced imported equipments and constructed by foreign contractors, such as Tianjin North Border Power Plant constructed by IDE, Shougang Tang-shan Steel Project constructed by SIDEM and Tian-jin Dagang HYFLUX Desalination Plant constructed by Singapore HYFLUX, are gathered here. The thermal method applies residual heat exhaust systems or cooling systems of steel plants, thermal power plants and nuclear power stations to provide steam for water production. The main projects with prospects in the future are large-scale industrial enterprises in Tianjin, Shandong and Hebei, some of which are planned with municipal water supply functions.

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6 Engineering-oriented capability and associated industriesThrough R&D and demonstration of almost 40 years, the seawater desalination in China has formed the tendency of industri-alization and laid solid foundations for large-scale application. Among the already established seawater desalination facilities, reverse osmosis (RO) and multi-effect distillation (MED) are the most popu-lar methods, whose capacity covers 95% of the total capacity, that of multi-stage flash (MSF) covers about 5%, and that of electro-dialysis (ED) & vapor compression (VC) covers less than 1%. According to the development trends, no other methods than RO can meet with the situation of China. As for the condition of practical applications, RO has greater advantages in municipal water supply, and MED also has certain competitive advantages to produce boiler water and fresh water in power plants as well as petrochemical enterprises with low-grade steam or residual heat. The research and develop-ment of key materials, components and equipments such as the energy recycling and variable-frequency control are under active development to largely reduce the energy consumption of RO desalination. In the recent 10 years, the technology of RO in China has a rapid growth and has become the major desalination method. At present, there are over 40 divisions dealing with desalination research and over 600 enterprises producing associ-ated devices. Hangzhou Water Treatment Technology R&D Center is the biggest desalination engineering corporation in

China with the annual capacity of 1.2 million m2 and over 2000 pieces of com-posite membranes and solving the crucial technology of membrane and compo-nent production, and there are almost a hundred of water treatment corporations and associated product enterprises with the annual production value up to over RMB 2 billion. In recent years, two produc-tion lines of RO composite membrane with the annual production capacity of 2 million m2 have been established in Hang-zhou and Guiyang through importing advanced technologies and equipments. The components of composite membrane for seawater desalination have been developed, the localization of membrane pressure vessels for seawater desalination have been basically realized, and the designing capability for complete set of desalination project has been possessed. In 2008, China Blue Star Group and Japan Toray Industries Inc. jointly established a plant of RO modules in China with the annual productivity of 6.17 million m2.Besides technical problems, seawater desalination is also influenced by project management and financing, etc. There-fore, full support of government is essential to development of desalination. In this respect, China still needs careful research and scientific development compared with foreign countries. In recent years, more and more foreign corporations have entered into Chinese market and occu-pied larger market shares with mature technology and powerful capital advan-tages, while Chinese enterprises seems to be inadequate on financing. The process of multiplied investment in Chinese desali-nation is still under the beginning stage, so the sustained support of government on policy, investment and infrastructures, etc. is most crucial. The domestic demand for desalination at present as well as in the future will create opportunities for enter-prises in the forms of BOO and BOT.

Currently, restricted by regional factors and market demand, the Chinese desalination market is mainly for industrial water supply in coastal developed cities. With appreciation of tap water and application of the latest seawater desalination technologies, there will be greater breakthroughs in the development of Chinese seawater desalination industry.

7 Large-scale projects newly established in 20101. The first stage of Northern Border Power Plant has a total investment of RMB 12.1 billion, and two generating-sets of 1000MW as well as a desalination device with daily capacity of 200 thousand tons will be constructed. The MED desalination device of Israel IDE Corporation can produce 65.70 million tons of fresh water, and it is the largest desalination device in China up to now.


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Currently, restricted by regional factors and market demand, the Chinese desalination market is mainly for industrial water supply in coastal developed cities. With appreciation of tap water and application of the latest seawater desalination technologies, there will be greater breakthroughs in the development of Chinese seawater desalination industry.

7 Large-scale projects newly established in 20101. The first stage of Northern Border Power Plant has a total investment of RMB 12.1 billion, and two generating-sets of 1000MW as well as a desalination device with daily capacity of 200 thousand tons will be constructed. The MED desalination device of Israel IDE Corporation can produce 65.70 million tons of fresh water, and it is the largest desalination device in China up to now.

2.The desalination project of Shougang Jing-tang Iron and Steel Base adopts two sets of MED devices with the daily capacity of 12500 tons imported from SIDEM Corporation. The base is the biggest domestic steel enterprise associat-ing desalination devices, and it can balance the economic benefits through residual heat application.

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5.Caofeidian New District Aqualyng Desalination Project was started in Jan. 2011 with the investment of RMB 350 million. It is planned to be put into produc-tion in October this year, and 10 million m3 of water can be saved after comple-tion of the project.

8 The anticipation for combination of nuclear power and seawater desali-nation is worthy of expect.As experts predicted, the combination of nuclear power and desalination in China will have deep significance in the future, and nuclear power enterprises will grasp the energy and water resources necessary for economic development if they can simultaneously provide power as well as large quantity of desalinated water, which depends on the extent of coupling of two technologies and integration of industrial development.During the period of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, China reformulates the new Medium and Long-term Nuclear Power Develop-ment Plan (2005-2020), which has greatly accelerated the process of nuclear power development. Lead by nuclear power development, the desalination industry faces a new opportunity for development. Nuclear power plants have both the price advantage of energy and the resource advantage of integrated development of water and power. Two major Chinese nuclear power corporations have respec-tively started to discuss the commercial prospects of associating coastal nuclear power plants with large-scale desalination in the future. Though the coupled tech-nologies of nuclear power and desalina-tion have the encouraging prospect, the industrial integration of them has had

Technology Development 3.Zhejiang Liuheng Seawater Desalination Project has a designed daily capacity of 100 thousand tons and the total investment of RMB 540 million. The daily capacity of the first stage is 22.5 thousand tons. The project was completed in Sep. 2009, and the desalina-tion system was put into operation in the beginning of 2010 after being examined by experts. After the whole project is com-pleted, it will become the largest desalina-tion project in China at present.4.Tianjin HYFLUX Desalination Project Tianjin Dagang Xinquan Desalination Project is constructed by Singapore HYFLUX Group with the investment of RMB 1.059 billion. The daily capacity of the first stage is 100 thou-sand tons, and after the whole project is finished, the daily capacity will be up to 150 thousand tons. The successful test water supply marks that most industrial water is supplied by the Dagang Xinquan Desalina-tion Project.

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The industrialization of desalination technology can not only resolve the problem of water shortage in China, but also be a new growth point for China’s economy. In 2010, the Chinese Government decided to support the development of seven new industries to build the future High-tech development structure, and as a vital component of “blue economy”, desalination has attracted wide attention from the investment field, and during period of the Twelfth Five-Year plan, Chinese desalination industry will have a rapid growth. With the quickened process of marketization of Chinese water resources, desalination will become a new economic growth point and form a gigan-tic industrial economic scale. According to the National Development Planning, the daily capacity of desalination will be up to 2 million m3 in 2015, and the sales value of desalination equipments will be RMB 48 billion. Hence, the Chinese desalination development has a broad prospect and demonstrates a trend of rapid growth, and there is a huge potential and a rapid growth in desalination demand. As predicted in the future 20 years, the interna-tional seawater desalination market will grows most rapidly in the Middle East, and then in China, India and USA.

The first large-scale desalination project of nuclear power enterprise has been completed and put into operation in 2010, and the desali-

certain commercial significance. In terms of large-scale nuclear power enterprises, the intensivism of nuclear power projects can reduce the cost because of ready-made utilities such as water-taking facilities as well as water transfer conditions, the new industries can drive development of localized integration capability and manufacturing, and state-owned enter-prises are capable of and willing to undertaking social responsibility. Therefore, we can antici-pate that the integration of nuclear power and desalination will face opportunities in the future, and enterprises with the above conditions will bring new spaces for development of Chinese desalination if they can seize the opportunities.

nation device in Dalian Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant with daily capacity of 20 thousand tons has been formally put into operation. At present, 4 or 5 of the 13 nuclear power plants under planning and construction have planned and designed associate desalination devices, however, it still takes time to plan large-scale water supplying facilities of desalination.The desalination industry has become the indus-trial component of the “blue economy” in China, and is bringing infinite opportunities as a new industry.

desalination industry-1 apda

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