Desalination & Reuse Handbook - Flipbook - Page 37
FEATURED DESALINATION PLANTS
MASDAR CITY, ABU DHABI, UAE
Located 30 km from Abu Dhabi City, Masdar City aims to
be the world’s first sustainable ‘smart city’, with no carbon
footprint. Construction in the United Arab Emirates began
in 2008 and is scheduled for completion in 2025. Solar
energy and smart buildings will be used to meet Masdar
City’s goal of ‘zero waste, zero carbon’.
Masdar’s Renewable Energy Water Desalination Program
launched in early 2013 to test and develop advanced,
energy-efficient seawater desalination technologies suitable
to be powered by renewable energy sources. In 2018 the
programme reported energy savings of up to 75% compared
to existing technologies in the UAE.
Veolia SIDEM, one of the technology partners on the pilot
programme, built and operated one of the five pilot plants
involved. Operating at 42% recovery at the first pass and
85% at the second, it uses Dow membranes and an Osmorec
ERD. The project’s post-treatment stage uses a limestone
filter and sulphuric acid.
Operating in challenging seawater quality conditions,
the pilot project had to deal with harmful algal blooms,
high nutrient levels and suspended solids peaks while
maintaining feedwater quality to prevent the risk of
membrane clogging and ensure membrane durability.
SWRO membranes are highly sensitive to fouling, making
effective raw water pretreatment essential.
A key part of the project was the implementation of SIDEM’s Spidflow Filter for
the first time. It combines Veolia’s Spidflow dissolved air flotation (DAF) and
Filtraflo high rate dual media gravity filtration (TGV). The technology has a 25%
reduced footprint compared to conventional pretreatment (DAF+DMF;DAF+UF),
does not require thickening, and has a modular design allowing for straightforward
extension of existing capacity.
Optimised hydraulics and proprietary white water injection nozzles allow for fast
reaction to variations in raw water quality. Operating at a rate of 30 m3/h over 24
months, it maintained standards of feedwater compatible with RO membrane
specifications through water quality fluctuations. Filtration cycles reached 40 hours
while maintaining high loading rates, resulting in pretreatment recovery rates
above 97%. The system also allows biomass development, reducing RO membrane
biofouling and enabling low CIP requirements. The system also claims to reduce
chemical consumption and increase membrane life duration compared to UF
pretreatment.
Abu Dhabi
Masdar City
29
