Middle East/North Africa

Approximately 60% of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s water comes from desalination currently – which consumes roughly 20% of the country’s energy usage – and demand is continuously rising. With the decoupling of power and desalination plants, it is now more necessary than ever to make desalination facilities energy efficient, and the government has directed water producers to decrease energy consumption as much as possible.

As one of the biggest seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination facilities in the world, ACWA Power Rabigh 3 IWP was designed to address the growing demand for water while also keeping energy consumption low.

By utilizing efficient solutions throughout the facility, the designers and engineers were able to reach their goal of reducing power consumption to under 3.2 kWh/m3. Energy Recovery’s PX devices were a key component in achieving the stated goal and, on an annual basis, will save ACWA Power Rabigh 3 IWP approximately 500 GWh each year.

Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Project: Colakoglu Metalurji A.S.
Capacity: 9,600 m³/ day
Energy Savings: $USD 800,000 or 6.2 million kWh/year* CO2 savings: 3,627 tons/ year**
* energy savings estimates based on Turkey’s power cost of $0.13/kWh
** based on Energy Recovery’s proprietary Power Model analysis

The Challenge: 
Industrial Water Needs Restrained by Expensive Power

The quality and availability of freshwater supplies in Turkey are unpredictable.  This is because rainfall variations, geographical irregularities, urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural modernization all complicate water use for human, industrial, and agricultural purposes. Turkey has no natural oil or gas resources and must make deliberate and thoughtful decisions about its energy acquisition and use. In designing Turkey’s largest desalination plant for Çolakoglu Metalurgi Company in Istanbul, Aquamatch considered many energy-saving options including DWEER and selected Energy Recovery’s technology over the competition because it saves the most energy, has the highest efficiency, and requires little to no maintenance.

The Innovation Solution
: Energy Recovery PX Pressure Exchanger

The isobaric energy-recovering PX technology captures and recycles energy.  This innovation reduces the energy required for desalination, lowers capital costs by complementing a smaller pump, decreases the carbon footprint of desalination processing, and offers maintenance-free operation for the life of the plant. The PX device made the most financial and environmental sense for the plant since it offered Aquamatch the highest return on investment for the life of the plant.

The Result
: Energy Savings Mean Viable Independent Water Source

The considerable energy saved using PX technology means Aquamatch is able to supply the Çolakoglu Metalurgi Company with more affordable process water, leaving freshwater resources available to residents. Increasingly, industrial customers seek out Energy Recovery for these benefits: companies require an independent water source that does not disrupt municipal supplies and that minimizes cost and energy use. In the case of Istanbul’s SWRO plant, Aquamatch is making economic growth possible by reducing the plant’s energy needs by more than 6 million kWh of energy per year. This has lowered the annual cost by nearly $800,000 each year for the seven years the PX solution has been operating in Turkey.
EPC contractors all gave the same answer when Aquamatch and Colakoglu Metallurgy asked for information on building an environmentally friendly and efficient desalination plant: Energy Recovery.