Case Study RO Pre-Treatment of Sea Water for a Steel ... - Inge AG

Case Study
RO Pre-Treatment of Sea Water for a Steel Mill in Abu Dhabi
Location
Mussafah, Abu Dhabi (UAE)
OEM/System Integrator
Bernardinello Engineering S.p.A.
Enduser
Emirates Steel Industries
Plant Capacity
80,000 m³/day
Market/Industry
Steel mill
Application
RO pre-treatment
Feed water source
Sea Water
Commisioning Date
Jan. 09 / 2011
• High Performance
• No Fibre Breaks
• Low Fouling
Overview
The largest Iron and Steel Factory in the United Arab Emirates, the ‘Emirates Steel Industries’ (ESI), has
undergone a significant expansion process increasing the steel production capacity. The expansion
includes a new sea water desalination plant located in Mussafah, the industrial city of Abu Dhabi. The
water treatment plant primarily covers the steel mill’s demand for desalinated water for the steel
production process.
UF as a pre-treatment system to RO was chosen based on the fact that the feed water taken from the
Arabic Gulf is known for its very difficult nature i.e. high levels of turbidity, organics, and bacteriological
activity especially in the summer time. Temporary appearance of algae is possible as well. The feedwater
is a blend of 90 percent sea water and 10 percent waste water from the steel mill which makes the job for
the UF particularly challenging.
The decision for inge UF technology particularly was taken because of the high robustness and integrity
of the inge membranes and modules.
integrity
without
compromise

Process Flow Diagram
System Summary
Membrane
Type
Racks/Trains
Total Number
UF Modules
dizzer
5000plus
7+7
574+602
Customer Statement
„The UF works perfectly particularly when
considering the very difficult feedwater conditions”
Angelo Bernardinello, Managing Director,
Bernardinello Engineering S.p.A.
Treatment Objectives
The quality of the feed water varies depending on the mixture of sea
and blow down water and varies with the different seasons.
To handle such difficult water qualities and to protect RO from algae
represent the superior treatment objective.
Specific requirement is to ensure a reliable operation under all
conditions and to provide water with an SDI of below 2 (the raw
water SDI exceeds 15 on a frequent basis) to protect the RO
membranes.
Performance
The UF is operated in dead end mode with a flux of slightly more
than 72 l/m²h in filtration mode which is a very good value given the
extraordinarily difficult water quality. The TMP ranges from 0.2 to
0.4 bar. Except for NaOCl which is applied 2/day no other CEBs are
used.
The filtrate water quality has a very high quality with an SDI of 1.4 to
1.8 which exceeds the requirements of the customer.
More Information:
inge GmbH
Flurstraße 27
D-86926 Greifenberg
Tel: +49 8192 997700
Fax: +49 8192 997999
e-mail: info@inge.ag
web: www.inge.ag
integrity
without
compromise