MODULE DESALINATION PLANT

1 It is a multi effect evaporation process by this method

reduces very high level of total dissolved salts from
seawater to make water useful for the plant.

Let’s Explore!
a) Purpose of Desalination
b) Operation of Desalination plant
c) Chemicals Safety and Chemical Washing
d) Equipments and Drawings 0|Page
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 DESALINATION PLANT
INDEX

S. No. Contents Page No.

1 Introduction 3

2 Why do we have desalination plant 3

3 Terminologies 4

4 Specifications:
4.1 Desalination plant 4
4.2 Seawater 5
4.3 Distillate 5

5 The Process and control of desalination plant 6–8

6 Desalination plant protections 9 – 11

7 Equipment specification 12 – 15

8 Acid cleaning of reheat plant 16 – 17

9 Startup and shutdown procedure (Block diagram) 18 – 21

10 Startup and shutdown procedure (Description) 22 – 23

11 Emergency shutdown 24

12 Additional information for the production 25

13 Diagrams / Drawings 26 – 32

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Desalination Plant
1. Introduction
It is a multi effect evaporation process: by this method we reduce the very high level
of total dissolved salts from seawater to make water useful for demineralization
plant, fire tank and domestic use. Seawater is supplied via two seawater pumps to
evaporation trains. The sea water is sprayed on the surface of the tubes and heating
steam is passed through the tubes. The seawater evaporates and becomes distillate
water that is stored in desalination tank. The remaining seawater (waste) called brine
water is pumped back to the outlet seawater culvert by brine pump.

2. Why do we have Desalination plant at Hub power station?

Seawater is easily available at Hub and seawater is the sole provider of water
for the desalination plant.

Seawater contains very high level of dissolved salts which must be greatly
reduced before the water is useful to the station.

Evaporation desalination has been chosen because of its relative simplicity.

Unit steam circuit and auxiliary boiler provide steam that is used for the
evaporation of seawater.

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3. Terminologies related to Desalination Plant

Desalination: Process of removing dissolved material (ions) from the raw

water (seawater)

Conductivity: Electrical measurement of the ionic content of water.

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): Actual amount of dissolved material in water.

Ions: Include sodium, calcium, magnesium, (positive ion/cation), chloride,

sulphate, silica and (negative ion/anion).

PH (Power of Hydrogen): Indication of the acidity/alkalinity of water.

4. Specifications

4.1 Desalination Plant Specification

Net water production 3 x 1200 tons/day

Steam consumption 3 x 7330 Kg/hr
Steam condition 15 kg/cm² and 310°C

Desalination Tank
There is only one tank which has the capacity of 2000 m³. This provides water to
demineralization water treatment plant, the fire system and domestic system.

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4.2 Seawater Specification

Temperature 29-33°C

PH 8 – 8.3 PH

Conductivity 60,000 uS/cm

Sulphate 1650 PPM

Chloride 21,000 PPM

Total dissolved solids 45,000 PPM

Calcium 1,000 PPM

Magnesium 5,500 PPM

4.3 Distillate Water Specification

Temperature < 43°C

Conductivity < 5 uS/cm

Sulphate < 0.31 PPM

Chloride < 7.1 PPM

Total dissolved solids 10 PPM

Calcium < 0.3 PPM

Magnesium < 1.2 PPM

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5. The Process and Control of Desalination Plant

Process Description

The raw seawater is pumped to the desalination unit by the seawater pumps.
Strainers are provided at the discharge of the pumps to remove any solid material
from the water.

The raw water (seawater) is chlorinated at seawater intake unit by chlorine dosing.

The reheat desalination unit combines the principle of multi-effect, horizontal tube,
spray film evaporation and compression by steam ejector.

Seawater is fed to the heat rejection section as coolant to carry off the excess heat
from the evaporator.

On leaving the heat rejection section, a percentage of the sea water is fed to the top
of the each effect and sprayed on to the outer surface of the tubes and the remainder
is returned to the sea.

Heating steam through the ejector compressor is supplied to the first effect where it
condenses and releases its latent heat inside the tubes.

As a result, the seawater film outside the tube is partially evaporated in the first
effect.

The remainder of the feed water (called the brine) falls on the floor of the first effect
evaporator and flows into the bottom of the second effect through the “U” shaped
loop.

The vapors produced in the first effect is led to the second effect at a lower
temperature than the first effect and condensed in the heating tube to evaporate the
feed water outside the tubes. The condensed vapour forms part of the product water.

Steam condensate in the first effect and vapour condensate in the other effects are
led to the succeeding effect releasing heat in the product water.

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Similarly, the evaporation and condensation process are repeated from effect to
effect up to the fourth effect.

Part of the vapor produced in the fourth effect is led to the heat reject condenser R1
and condenses on the outer surface of the tubes, giving up its heat to seawater that
flows inside the tubes.

Some of this seawater is supplied to each of the four evaporator effects as feed
water, the remainder is discharged back to the sea.

Finally the product water in R1 flows to the condenser R2 in which it is reduced in

temperature by flashing off due to the high vacuum of the plant and releases some of
its heat content to incoming seawater (feed water) before being pumped by the
product water pump (distillate pump) into the distillate tank. The remaining vapor is
withdrawn and mixed with the motive steam from the boiler.

On leaving the ejector the mixed steam vapour flows into the first effect as heating
steam in which it is condensed and transmits sufficient heat to evaporate the feed
water as mentioned above.

The brine in the fourth effect is flashed into separate compartment in the condenser
R2 and the vapor generated is condensed on the outside of the tube to produce a
further amount of product water.

The excess brine in the condenser R2 is extracted by the brine blowdown pump.
The low pressure vacuum in the plant is initially created and then maintained by
removing air and other incondensable gases with the help of vent ejector through
which air and other incondensable gases are constantly being discharged to
atmosphere.

The feed seawater is dosed with the scale inhibitor to prevent soft scale formation on
the surface of the tubes.

The scale inhibitor dosing system consists of a chemical service tank with agitator and
chemical injection pumps.

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Operation and Control

The desalination plant is provided with sufficient instrumentation and controls to

maintain steady operation.

The following control system and philosophy is adopted for the desalination.
1) Startup and shutdown operation can be made possible by a one touch system
on the control panel.

2) The plant shall be manually started upon the low level signal of the desalination
water tank.

3) The plant shall stop automatically upon high water level signal of the
desalination water tank.

4) The rate of change of production can be done by changing the steam pressure.

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6. Desalination Plant Protections
Alarms

In control room – Desalination Plant fault

Sea water supply flow low to Low Check pumps/valves in service
evaporator low
Evaporator pressure High Check steam flow suspect scaling
Brine Level High, Low Check pump priming, Check discharge
valve, Check LCV
Distillate level High, Low Check pump prime loss, Check discharge
valve, Check LCV
Scale inhibitor tank level Low Check for leakage, Concern Chemical
department for make up
Distillate conductivity High Suspect carryover of seawater, possible
tube nest leak

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Desalination Plant Trips

Evaporator pressure high high (PS 126) Trip*1

Feed flow low (FICS 111, FIS 112,113,114) Trip *1

Brine level low low (LS 123) Trip *1

Distillate water level low low (LS 124) Trip*1

1st effect temperature high

Note:
Trip *1
Brine pump, distillate pump and scale inhibitor pump shall be stopped.
Steam valve (PV 161, UV 162) and feed water valve (FV-111) shall be
closed also.

Trip *2
High conductivity distillate will be automatically dumped to the sea water
discharged line via (LV-122B). When the conductivity is recovered the
distillation shall be supplied to the desalination water tank.

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Alarms (Each train has its own identical panel)
Title Set Point
Desalination tank level high 9.5m
Desalination tank level low 7.0m
PLC abnormal -
PLC battery abnormal -
“A” sea water pump trip -
“B” sea water pump trip -
Sea water strainer diff. pressure high -
Effect feed water flow low 32 m³/hr
1st effect temperature high 75°C
Sea water flow to evaporator low < 190 m³/hr
Total sea water supply flow low to desalination trains 190 m³/hr (1 pump I/S)
380 m³/hr (2 pumps I/S)
Sea water pump trip -
Evaporator pressure high -0.85 kg/cm²G
Evaporator pressure high/high trip -0.75 kg/cm²G
Brine pump motor trip -
Scale inhibitor tank level low 100mm
Instrument electrical power supply fail -
Brine level low -200mm
Brine level low/low trip -250mm
Brine level high +250mm
Auto shutdown not complete -
Distillate level low -200mm
Distillate level low/low trip -250mm
Distillate level high +250mm
Distillate conductivity high > 5 uS/cm
Auto start not completed -

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7. Equipments Specifications
Sea Water Pumps

No. installed : 2
Type : Vertical
Rated capacity (m3/hr) : 930
Total head : 35
Speed (RPM) : 1465
Shaft seal : Gland packing
Motor rating (KW) : 132
Material
Casing : Ni-resist D2B
Impeller : Stainless steel (SCS14)
Shafted sleeve : Stainless steel (SUS316)

Sea Water Strainer

No. installed : 2
Type : single
Design flow (m3/hr) : 930
Strainer mesh size : 10
Material
Body : Cast Iron and rubber lining
Screen element : Stainless steel (SUS304)

Desalination Train

No. installed : 3
Type : Horizontal tube reheat
Design Condition

i. Shell side design temperature (°C) : 80

Design Pressure (Kg/cm²G) : 1.0 and -1.0

ii. Tube Side

Design temperature (°C) : 80 for effects
: 60 for rejection condenser (R1 & R2)
Design pressure (kg/cm²G) : 3 for rejection condenser (R1 & R2)

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Design Net Product

Output per each unit (ton/day) : 1200

Product water purity (PPM) : Max 0.1 as TDS
Total weight (ton) : 68 (empty)
: 76 (Operation)
: 185 (Full of water)
Material

Shell plate for sea water zone : Mild Steel (SS400) + Neoprene rubber
Inner partition plate : Mild Steel (SS400) + Neoprene rubber
Effect vapor chamber : Stainless Steel (SUS304)
Spray tray : Stainless Steel (SUS316)
Mist separator for effects and R2 condenser : Stainless Steel (SUS316)
Effect tubes (top three rows) : Aluminum + Brass Titanium
Effect tube sheet : Naval brass
Effect tube Support : 90/10 Cu - Ni
R1 Condenser tube : Titanium (TTH35W)
R1 Condenser tube sheet : Titanium (TP49)
R1 Condenser tube support : Stainless steel (SUS304)
R2 Condenser tube : Titanium (TTH35W)
R2 Condenser tube sheet : Titanium (TP49)
R2 Condenser tube support : Stainless steel (SUS304)

Main Ejector:
No. Installed : 3
Type : Steam jet
Material
Nozzle : Stainless steel (SUS304)
Vapor chamber : Stainless steel (SUS304)
Diffuser : Stainless steel (SUS304)

Vent Ejector:
No. installed : 3 sets (one set for each train)
: 2 stage steam jet air ejector
Material
Nozzle : Stainless steel (SUS304)
Vapor chamber : Stainless steel (SUS304)
Diffuser : Stainless steel (SUS304)

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Silencer for Vent Ejector
No. installed : 3 (one for each train)
Material
Shell : Carbon steel (SGP)
Absorber : Stainless steel (SUS304)

Brine Pump:
No. installed : 3 (one for each train)
Type : Horizontal centrifugal
Design capacity (m³/hr) : 168
Total head (m) : 22
Fluid temperature (°C) : 43.7
Speed (rpm) : 1450
Coupling : Flexible
Shaft seal : Gland packing
Motor rated power (KW) : 18.5
Material
Casing : Stainless steel (SCS14)
Impeller : Stainless steel (SCS14)
Shaft : Stainless steel (SUS316)
Shaft Sleeve : Stainless steel (SUS316)

Distillate Pump:
No. installed : 3 (one for each train)
Type : Horizontal centrifugal
Design Capacity (m³/hr) : 75
Total Head (m) : 33
Fluid Temperature (°C) : 43
Speed (rpm) : 1450
Coupling : Flexible
Shaft seal : Gland packing
Motor rated power (KW) : 15
Material
Casing : Stainless steel (SCS13)
Impeller : Stainless steel (SCS13)
Shaft : Stainless steel (SUS304)
Shaft sleeve : Stainless steel (SUS304)

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Scale Inhibitor Pump:
No. installed : 3 (one for each train)
Type : Plunger
Design capacity (cc/min) : 34
Capacity control : Manual stroke adjustment
Motor rated output : 0.2
Material
Pump head (liquid end) : Stainless steel (SUS304)
Plunger : Stainless steel (SUS304)
Ball valve : Stainless steel (SUS304)
Valve Seat : Stainless steel (SCS304)

Scale Inhibitor Tank:

No. installed : 3 (one for each train)
Type : Vertical rectangular
Capacity (m³) : Capacity for 3 working days
Material : Stainless steel (SCS304)

Agitator for Scale:

No. installed : 3 (one for each train)
Type : Single stage propeller
Motor rated output : 0.2
Material (Wetted parts) : Stainless steel

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8. Acid Cleaning of Reheat Plant
Acid Cleaning

Acid cleaning is required when there is an indication of scale formation on the

heat exchanger surfaces.

The indication may manifest it self via the improper heat balance (temperature
and pressure) and substantial reduction in output capacity.

For reducing the amount of scaling, constantly a scale inhibitor is used.

Sulphuric acid (inhibited) is circulated around the effects via brine pump.

Scale Formation

In the recent desalination process, the maximum brine temperature and dissolved
salts concentration is kept low to minimize the risk of possible scale formation on the
heat exchanger tubes. As an additional precaution, the sea water is dosed with a
small amount of scale inhibitor (KAO KC -550 or Belgrad EV). Therefore calcium
carbonate scale will not be precipitated on the outer surface of the tubes except in
accidental cases of blockage of the spray tray or if the plant is operated with
extremely low feed seawater flow. The most likely indication that scale may be
forming on the tubes is a temperature rise in the first effect and then a substantial
reduction in output capacity and an abnormal heat balance condition. If scale is
suspected, open the top manholes and remove any blockage of the spray trays before
starting the acid cleaning.

General Procedure of Acid Cleaning

Removal of scale can be done by washing the outside of the tubes with a weak
solution of acid which dissolves the calcium carbonate. To prevent acid attack of
other parts of the plant, the sulphuric or sulfamic acid with corrosion inhibitor is used.

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The acid cleaning solution is usually prepared by 5% sulphuric acid or diluting
commercial inhibited sulfamic acid with fresh water or seawater inside the
evaporator unit.

This weak acid solution is then circulated over the tubes using the brine pump until its
PH value indicates that the acid has been used up. The spent solution is then
discharged and the process repeated until the PH of the acid shows that no further
chemical reaction is taking place. The plant is then thoroughly flushed through sea
water.

The whole cleaning process can usually be carried out in one day.

Safety Precautions

Wear rubber aprons, gloves and goggles when handling sulphuric acid and
corrosion inhibitor.

When sulphuric acid or corrosion inhibitor contacts the clothing or skin wash
out those parts with water.

If accidental contact with the eyes occurs, immediately flush with water or seek
medical attention.

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9. Startup and Shutdown procedure (block diagram)

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10. Startup and Shutdown procedure (description)

1. Preparation of startup manually.

2. Select all controllers on auto position to operate automatic sequence.

3. Put all auto/manual selector switches into auto position, brine pump,
distillate pump, scale inhibitor dosing pump, all control v/v like vent ejector,
main steam control v/v, brine level control v/v except distillate level control
v/v because this valve has some special features.

4. Put distillate level control v/v selector switch (dump/auto/online) on auto

position, if it is on dump position it will bypass the conductivity analyzer, if it
is on line also it will bypass the analyzer.

5. Press A or B desalination plant sea water pump by start push button from
common panel when the seawater supply flow becomes normal like more
than 190 m³/hr in case of one pump is running.

6. Press train start push button from common panel, automatic startup
sequence will start.

7. Vent ejector steam control v/v will open

8. Effect feed control v/v start to open then flow switch 111, more than low
and brine level high will send a signal to brine level control v/v which will
actuate and brine pump will start and control the level and also scale
inhibitor dosing pump will start.

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 9. When the evaporator got the Vacuum more than -0.85 K/cm², it will actuate
the main steam pressure control v/v.

10.Desuperheating water spray solenoid v/v start to open for 20 minutes, then
it will close.

11.Main heating steam pressure control v/v will come in service and it will vary
with desalination tank level.

12.Level switch will give a signal to distillate level control v/v distillate level high
and v/v will actuate for opening and distillate pump will start.

13.When the distillate conductivity falls below than < 8 uS/cm. It will start to
store. When the conductivity is more than above mentioned will dump the
water.

Shutdown Procedure

1. Press the stop push button

2. Heating steam pressure control v/v will close

3. Distillate pump will stop

4. Distillate level control valve will close

5. After 2 minutes effect feed control v/v will close

6. Scale inhibitor pump will stop

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11. Emergency Shutdown
A trip signal is initiated by the failure of equipment or an abnormal process condition.
In the case of a plant trip initiated under the plant auto mode operation, the pumps
and control valves are changed to the following status in order to avoid damage to
the plant.

Item: State
Brine pump Stop

Distillate pump Stop

Scale inhibitor pump Stop

Effect feed control valve Close

Brine level control valve Close

Distillate control valve (online) Close

Distillate control valve (dump) Close

Heating steam pressure control valve Close

Vent ejector steam valve Close

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12. Additional Information For The Production Control

The level of production of the desalination plant is controlled with a signal from the
desalination water tank.

The level signal of 5 (five) relay contacts which are (L/L, L, Pass, H, H/H) on the
desalination tank level indicator (9LIS 151) are inputted into the PLC and then the
status of the level is transferred to the heating steam pressure controller (1-3 PIC 161)
as remote switching signal to change its own set point with the predetermined value.

The rate of production is provided with five steps which are relative to the five relay
contacts of the desalination tank level but a manual or voluntary signal setting can
inputted of deemed desirable.

When two trains are in service the same status of level is transferred to both heating
steam pressure controllers.

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13. Drawings and Diagrams
Fig. No. 1

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Fig. No. 2

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Fig. No. 3

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Fig. No. 4

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Fig. No. 5

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Fig. No. 6

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Fig. No. 7

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