Seawater desalination using Dow Water & Process Solutions reverse osmosis elements has spread globally because of their consistent reliability, long-life, high salt rejection capability and resistance to bacterial attack. Water purification facilities from the Caribbean to Spain, and the Middle East to the Pacific are taking advantage of Dow Water & Process Solutions elements to meet today's growing demand and limited availability of freshwater resources.
Dow Water & Process Solutions offers integrated process schemes, composed of multiple technologies such as DOW FILMTEC™ reverse osmosis membranes, DOW™ Ultrafiltration for pretreatment and AQUCAR™ microbial control. In addition to the main application in potable and agriculture schemes, Dow Water & Process Solutions seawater desalination technology is also used in power, industrial and mining as well as residential and marine applications.
The optimized combination of these schemes enables treating difficult waters at a lower cost while reducing the environmental footprint. DOW FILMTEC™ elements are used in the largest operating desalination plants (Ashkelon, Hadera with 400,000 m³/d each) and many other large desalination facilities (Sydney, Perth, Jebel Ali, Mostaganem, Torrevieja, Tampa, Venezuela) in the world.
Used in desalination plants with a capacity of more than 100,000 m³/d such as Wang Tan, Magong, Moni, Episkopi and Eemshaven, integrated process schemes using DOW™ Ultrafiltration are growing very strongly due to accelerated industry adoption.
In some special applications, additional Dow Water & Process Solutions separation component offering is used, such as AMBERLITE™ Boron selective resin (e.g., Dhekhelia, Singapore), various cation or anion exchange resins as well as mixed bed resins in power applications (e.g., Wang Tan,) and DOW FILMTEC™ Nanofiltration membranes for seawater softening (e.g., Layyah).
Seawater Applications
POTABLE AND AGRICULTUREPotable water and water for agricultural irrigation is often supplied via common distribution networks, therefore these two applications should be considered in context. Potable and agriculture standards vary considerably around the world. |
POWER AND INDUSTRIALPower and industrial systems are characterized by very stringent treatment standards often requiring up to full demineralization. Therefore, salinity needs to be reduced from the 40,000 mg/L range down to around the range of 1 -10 mg/L. This often requires three and more separation component technologies. Hence, in addition to the SWRO technology, upfront ultrafiltration pretreatment and a BWRO 2nd pass, ion exchange cation, anion and mixed beds and/or electrodeionization technology are used to reach the required water quality. |
MARINEThis segment is characterized by small, mobile seawater desalination systems, mostly on ships, but occasionally also on land. A very variable range of feed waters is used, which includes sea and brackish surface sources, with wide variation in salinity and temperature. This requires these usually relatively small units to be very versatile. Small 4-inch, and occasionally even 1.5 and 2.5 inch DOW FILMTEC™ SW30 elements can be used, involving DOW FILMTEC SW30-4040 and DOW FILMTEC SW30HRLE-4040. Also the ultrafiltration membranes for pretreatment must be chosen smaller and a typical choice is DOW™ Ultrafiltration SFP-2660. |
SEAWATER DESALINATIONDOW FILMTEC™ reverse osmsos technology offers a wide range of solutions for lowest water cost in any of the application and technology segments. |
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