Turbochargers
Energy Recovery Solutions for Low Pressure RO Systems
Energy Recovery has spent 30 years perfecting the reliable, field-proven, and trusted PX Pressure Exchanger technology. Consuming no electrical power and engineered with only one moving part made of highly durable and corrosion-resistant ceramic, the PX Pressure Exchanger offers substantial energy savings and ease of integration resulting in reduced operational expenditures.
The LPT Turbocharger is also a cost-efficient energy recovery solution offering long-term reliability and versatility in a compact footprint, designed for low-pressure applications such as multi-stage brackish reverse osmosis water treatment.
Water Products Catalog
Energy Recovery has spent decades perfecting devices that capture and recycle otherwise wasted pressure energy. We have a suite of energy recovery devices (ERDs) that can operate at different pressures, dramatically reducing the energy needs, costs, and emissions associated with reverse osmosis desalination.
Our industry-leading energy recovery solutions include the PX® Pressure Exchanger®, Ultra PX™, and Turbocharger. Combined with our family of pumps, our solutions are trusted around the world by plants of all sizes to meet their specific energy recovery needs.
PowerPlay
Available in multiple configurations, the PowerPlay raises the bar on SWRO plant performance. Constructed with state-of-the-art technology, each component of the PowerPlay is virtually maintenance free and backed with service from a single, trusted source. Download the one-sheet to learn more.
Enhanced Turbocharger Design in Desalination
This white paper covers the latest design advancements made to Energy Recovery’s AT Turbocharger for desalination.
How the Turbocharger Works (SHORT)
Advanced TurboCharger Product Demo
Energy Recovery is proud to present our improved Advanced TurboCharger line. Take a tour with Senior Technical Manager, Eric Kadaj, as he explains the key features and benefits of this new and improved centrifugal solution. With patented volute insert technology and solution enhancements, our turbocharger product line is now the most flexible, efficient, and reliable centrifugual Energy Recovery Device (ERD) in the industry today.
Energy Recovery in China
China has been turning to seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) as a way to ease the severe stress on fresh water resources, and ninety percent of Chinese desalination plants use Energy Recovery’s technology to harness fluid flows and pressure energy. Watch this video to hear experts in the Chinese desalination industry talk about their experience with Energy Recovery over the past ten years.
Advanced TurboCharger Animation
With Energy Recovery’s Advanced TurboCharger™ (AT) with volute insert technology, plant operators can recover a significant portion of this wasted energy and transfer it back to the seawater reverse osmosis feed stream. This energy recovery device, or ERD, reduces the amount of pressure the high-pressure pump must create — greatly reducing the amount of power that’s needed to produce water. With the Energy Recovery TurboCharger, there is minimal downtime versus days or weeks with other methods. Suitable for both high-pressure seawater and lower-pressure brackish reverse osmosis systems, Energy Recovery TurboChargers offer substantial savings for lower investment solutions — especially in locations where power costs are heavily subsidized or there’s a need to reduce upfront capital costs. The device is easy to install and has a compact footprint. The Energy Recovery TurboCharger is a turnkey solution that requires minimal installation time, operator training and plant design.
能量回收在中国
面对日益严峻的水资源短缺，中国各水利机构与各大全球水处理公司建立了合作伙伴关系，致力于建造 中国现今最大的反渗透海水淡化厂。美国能量回收公司始终为主要的海水淡化厂提供高效领先的能量回收设备，并 在中国拥有90%的市场占有率，每日供水估约50万立方米。
The economics of downtime
A key cost that is seldom estimated during evaluation of various technologies in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) projects is the cost of downtime, both planned and unplanned. This paper will prove that these downtime costs are significant to both the investors and the operators of the plant. Therefore, plant availability must be a primary factor to be considered in the design phase. Plant availability is even more critical in evaluating the energy recovery technologies as they can cripple production if they break down often and require high maintenance.
Energy recovery devices (ERD) cost less than 2% of initial capital costs but could cost twice that due to lost margin and capital costs. Due to large initial capital expenses, long project life, and criticality of water for end-users, every component should be designed for longevity and robustness along with highest performance. As many plant operators have to pay for liquidated damages when missing the minimum production requirements, it is imperative that the plant is designed for the highest availability possible.
India’s meticulous water needs
Location: Udipi, Karnataka, India
Project: Udipi Thermal Power Plant
Capacity: 16,200 m³/ day
Energy Savings: 8,750,000 kWh/year* (energy savings estimates based on India’s power cost of $0.1/kWh)
The Challenge: Indian Power Plant with Meticulous Water Needs
The Udipi 1300 MW Thermal Power Plant is a coal/gas-based power generating station located in Udipi, near Mangalore, Karnataka, India. It produces power by converting water into steam, which is then used to drive turbines. Vast amounts of the highest quality pure water are needed for the steam generation process.
The Innovation Solution: PowerPlay with Advanced TurboCharger + High Pressure Pump
After weighing the options, contractor Triveni Engineering chose seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination as the most viable option for obtaining the highest quality pure water. While Triveni Engineering had been offering custom made solutions to the Indian desalination industry for more than a decade, they were seeking the latest advances in energy recovery technology to increase plant efficiency. Triveni selected Energy Recovery’s Advanced TurboCharger™ (AT) due to its reliability and optimal efficiency. Triveni also chose to configure the plant with Energy Recovery’s AquaSpire™ centrifugal high-pressure pump. The AquaSpire pump is a single-stage, high-pressure pump ideal for medium-to-large-scale seawater- and brackish-water reverse-osmosis systems.
The AT and the AquaSpire centrifugal pump are designed to complement each other for maximum efficiency and hydraulic flexibility. A flexible solution that simplifies the SWRO system while maintaining its operational reliability, the AT is easy to install and has a compact footprint. This winning configuration is a turnkey solution that requires minimal installation time, operator training, and plant design. With Udipi’s 16,200 m3/day plant capacity, it was of paramount importance to find the most cost-effective and energy-efficient desalination solution.
The Result: Flexibility with Cost Savings
The plant is configured with four centrifugal high-durability AquaSpire pumps and three AT TurboCharger energy recovery devices working together to give flexibility and cost-energy benefits. A total of three trains have been running since May 2010. As a result of using our technologies, the plant went to working at 100% full capacity and year after year, saves 8,750,000 kWh of energy—increasing overall profit. More trains will be purchased for the expansion of the plant within the next two years. In fact, the client is so satisfied the setup is being showcased as a demo site for their potential customers.
Brackish water desalination: energy and cost considerations
Energy recovery devices are employed in nearly all seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants to recover pressure from the membrane reject stream and return it to the process. Because of the high pressures and low membrane permeate recovery rates common in these systems, the membrane reject stream contains a considerable amount of energy. The use of energy recovery devices in seawater RO is readily justified on the basis of operating cost savings. However, the application of energy recovery is much less common in brackish water RO systems, primarily because of the relatively low feed pressure and low flow rate of the membrane reject stream. The fear is that energy recovery devices can also potentially limit the flexibility of a brackish RO process because of efficiency losses or flow-rate constraints encountered during off-peak operation.