Pumps and systems
Pumps and systems Seawater desalination sera makes seawater drinkable Morocco is an arid country which is badly affected by climate change. Population growth, the progression of industrialisation, the growth of the tourism industry and agriculture have led to the groundwater table sinking continuously in recent years. Large seawater desalination projects for drinking water production are intended to counteract the drinking water scarcity, and sera is contributing to this. Morocco, cultural, political and economic link between Europe and Africa, has always been one of the countries with water shortages. Climate change and the increased expansion of the export of agricultural products have made the situation even worse in recent years. A programme launched by the Moroccan government and supported by the EU therefore provides for the expansion and new construction of seawater desalination plants for drinking water and irrigation water production by 2030. Currently, 30 million cubic metres of seawater and brackish water are treated annually in ten plants in Morocco; by 2030, this figure is expected to rise to 400 million cubic metres per year. Largest seawater desalination plant in Africa – most modern in the world The Souss-Massa region in southwestern Morocco is home to more than 2.7 million people on an area of about 51,600 km². Agriculture is the most important economic sector in the region, and its capital, Agadir, is an important fishing and tourist port. Here, too, drought and water shortages are prevalent, recently costing thousands of jobs in agriculture. In order to counteract the water shortage, the construction of a seawater desalination plant for the region was put out to tender, which is to cover both the water demand for domestic consumption and the irrigation needs of the region. As such, it is expected to contribute to the development of the main economic sectors, tourism and agriculture, while maintaining the region's groundwater level at current levels. In early 2019, the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture and Economy awarded the construction to the Spanish company Abengoa, a leader in innovative technology solutions for sustainability in the energy and environment sectors. Seawater desalination is an energy-intensive process. The company planned to desalinate seawater by reverse osmosis, which involves forcing seawater at high pressure through semi-permeable membranes that retain the salt. Compared to distillation, which requires about ten kilowatt hours per cubic metre of water, this process requires only three kilowatt hours. Still a high energy input. For this reason, the desalination plant in Agadir is Fig. 1: Panorama of Agadir, Morocco, Photo: Adobe Stock/Maciej Czekajewski 18 GREEN EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGIES 2022
Pumps and systems Seawater desalination powered exclusively by renewable energies: it draws its electricity from the Noor Ourzazate solar power plant, about 400 km away, making it the largest solar-powered seawater desalination plant in the world. An expansion and use of wind turbines is planned for the future. The total cost of the project is over 370 million euros. Farmers in the region have each contributed around € 930 in exchange for a discount on future desalinated water. German-Spanish sera cooperation The Spanish company was aware that sera had already supplied dosing systems for a seawater desalination plant in Salaha in Oman (113,500 m³ of drinking water daily) and therefore relied on the expertise of sera's Spanish subsidiary. The planned plant in Agadir was initially to produce 275,000 m³ of desalinated water per day, later reaching a maximum capacity of 450,000 m³ per day. Fig. 2: Dosing system This makes it the largest sea water desalination plant in Africa – and such a large project for the system supplier and dosing pump manufacturer that the Spanish branch implemented it together with the headquarters in Immenhausen. A wide variety of dosing and conveying systems were required at different process steps in seawater desalination. The Spanish subsidiary was in charge of the extensive, customerspecific project. The entire engineering was carried out in Spain, as was TOP PERFORMER FEED-IN & HIGH-PRESSURE REFUELLING BIOMETHANE | NATURAL GAS | HYDROGEN › Compact end-to-end solutions in the perfect combination, adding up to a high-performance, compact compressor system. › With weatherproof housings, cooling systems for extreme local conditions and storage, control and filling systems to ensure smooth, seamless operation. › Plug & play. Individually customized and modularized for each application. › Pre-tested, documented and TÜV-certified. › 50 – 500 bar › 11 – 700 m 3 /h › Air- and water-cooled › Biomethane | Natural gas | Hydrogen www.bauer-kompressoren.de Go to product:
