swcc

Scale Control in Multi Stage Flash (MSF)

Desalination Plants – Lessons Learnt
Presenter : Dr. Osman A. Hamed

1
1
 Outline
Introduction to the desalination industry in the GCC

The importance of scale control in MSF desalination

plants
Lessons learnt from acid dosed MSF desalination
plants.
Evolution of scale control in threshold chemical
additive dosed MSF plants
Future R&D directions to improve the techno-
economic effectiveness of the MSF desalination
industry
2
 80

70

60 34%

66%
50
milion m3/d

40

30

20 Membrane

10 Thermal

0
1980
1980 1985
1985 1990
1990 1995
1995 2000 2000 2005 2005 20132010

Evolution of the Global installed membrane and thermal capacity,1980-2013

(cumulative)

3
Breakdown of Total Worldwide Installed capacity
by technology
Other (2%)
Hybrid (1 %)

ED (3 %)

MED (8 %)

80.9 million m3/d

MSF (23%
RO (63%)

4
 Breakdown of Total Worldwide
Installed capacity

BAHRAIN 1.32% OMAN 1.38%

SPAIN 7.64%

QATAR 3.39%
KSA
18.00%

OTHERS UAE
16.66%
27.36%

USA
17.80%

KUWAIT 6.46%
5
Historical evolution of total installed capacities of desalination
plants in the GCC countries

RO
28%
thermal membrane
thermal
72%

24
22
20
Production (million m3/d)

18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1980
1,988 1985
1,996 1990
1,998 1995
2,000 2000
2,002 2005
2,004 2013
2,010
year

6
 The majority of sea water desalination plants are employing
Multi Stage Flash Process

• The major problem in

operating MSF distillation
plants is the formation of
scale inside the heat
transfer tubes.

• Scale deposits in the brine

heater and heat recovery
section will lead to either
high energy consumption or
loss of water production

7
 Scale formation is initiated by some of the dissolved
constituents within the seawater

T y i c a l tio n o f
p
G u l f S er S C A L E F O R M IN G C O N S T IT U E
C a t i o pn ps SEA W ATER
S o d i u 1m 3 0
P o t a s 4s 6i u
C a l c i u5 0m -, S O2-
M a g n 1e 6s C a+ +, M g+ +, H C 3O 4

T r a c e s op p e r ,
B o r o n ,
-
C a+ +, M g+ +, H C 3O C a+ +, S O2-
A n i o n s 4

C h l o r i2d 4e 0
S u l f a 3
t e3
B i c a r 1b 7o C a lc iu m M a g n e s iu m C a lc iu m
B r o m i8d 3e C a rb o n a te H y d r o x id e S u lfa te
T r a c e s o f S ilic o n

T o t a l d i a l t s =A l k a l i n e S c a l e " S o f t " N o n - A l k a l i n
4 3 0 S c a le " H a r d

8
 Remove the source of alkaline scale formation.

Complete removal or reduction of bicarbonate

ions in sea water will eliminate the possibility of
CaCO3 or Mg(OH)2 scale formation

Prevention Can be achieved by two

or mitigation different scale control strategies
of alkaline
scale formation

9
ALKALINE SCALE CONTROL BY ACID TREATMENT

pH 7.5

10
 Jeddah Phase 1 (1970-1980)
Al khobar phase 1 (1973-1982)

SWCC Acid operated plants

Lessons learnt

11
 Jeddah Phase 1 & Al-Khobar Phase-I
1970-1982)
Both plants experienced :
• Undersized decarbonator
• Deaerator overloaded ,
(oxygen content 100-150 ppb)
3. Accelerated corrosion
TBT (design) 121oC,118oC
Operating TBT 115oC
Distiller capacity 2.5 MGD
42,34 stages Limited service life
No external deaerator ( around 11 years)
Deaeration:stage 42&34 Al khobar 2 also was
subjected to formation
Shell material:unlined CS
of calcuim sulfate
Tube :Cu Ni 90-10 scale because of the
seawater high TDS

12
 Jeddah Phase 1 (1970-1980)
Al khobar Phase 1 (1973-1982)

SWCC
acid operated plants Jeddah Phase 2 (1977-2007)
Lessons learnt

13
 Jeddah Phase-II
(1977-2007)

• 4 distillers each of production

• capacity of 2.5MIGD
• 34 stages
• TBT (design) 121oC
• TBT (operating) 115oC
• External deaerator
• Ball cleaning once a week
• Long tube
• Module#1 lined SS316 ;Tubes 90/10 Cu Ni
• Visual inspection of the plant's physical structure revealed
that the plants heat transfer tubes and flash chambers
of the high temperature modes are heavily corroded.
14
Photo #1 Upper parts of the flash Photo#2 Flash chambers walls
chambers
15
 Jeddah Phase 1 (1970-1980)
Al khobar phase 1 (1973-1982)

SWCC
acid operated plants Jeddah phase 2 (1977-2007)

Yanbu phase 1 ( 1982-till then )

16
 Yanbu Phase 1

Salient features

1. 4 MSF distillers each with a production capacity of 4.84 MIGD

2. 24 stages
3. TBT (design) 121oC
4. TBT operating 115oC
5. Originally designed to operate on acid treatment.
6. Operating on alternating treatment mode
additive/acid treatment

17
Variation with time in fouling factor

18
 Remove the source of alkaline scale formation.

Complete removal or reduction of bicarbonate

ions in sea water will eliminate the possibility of
CaCO3 or Mg(OH)2 scale formation

Prevention Can be achieved by two

or mitigation different scale control strategies
of alkaline
scale formation
Inhibit the formation and/or deposition of
alkaline Scale through
addition of proprietary scale inhibiting
materials in combination with mechanical
on-line cleaning.

19
 SUPPRESSION OF SCALE PRECIPITATION BY ANTI-
SCALANTS

Commonly used antiscalants are derived from three

chemical families.

■ Condensed polyphosphates

■ Phosphonate

■ Polyelectrolytes (mostly polycarboxylic)

1. Polyacrylic acid
2. Polymethaerylic acid
3. Polymaleic acid
(MW 1000 to 5000 DA)
20
 Significant reduction of
antiscalant dose ratee

Lessons learnt from

Scale control
by additive
treatment

21
 SWCC’s ACHIEVEMENTS IN CONTROLLING
ALKALINE SCALE FORMATION
16
16 15
Dose Rate recommended in 1981
Antiscalant Dose Rate (ppm)

14
14 1981
12
12 Dose Rate Optimized in 2003
2013 9
10
10

8
8 6.5 Optimization Tests
6 4.5
6

4
3 Improvement of
4
Chemical
2
2 Formulation
2 2.5
0.8 1.5
0 1
0
85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120
85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 Adoption of On-
Top Brine Temperature (oC)
Line Sponge Ball
Cleaning System

22
The most important factor which contributed in the
reduction of anti-scalant dose rate is the use of sponge ball
cleaning systems.

The cleaning balls help to maintain the tubes free from

any soft deposit and therefore facilitate the maintenance
of low fouling factors for long period of time.Thus
extended operational periods between acid cleaning are
attained.

The sponge balls need not be circulated continuously but

for a short period every shift normally 30 minutes three
times every 24 hours.

23
 ON-LOAD SPONGE BALL CLEANING

All SWCC MSF plants are equipped with on-line sponge ball cleaning system

Chemical Ball/ Tube Ratio Frequency of Ball No. of cycles per

Plant
Treatment BH HRC Cleaning Operation operation
II Acid 0.296 0.236 One/week 3 cycle/oper
Jeddah

III Antiscalant 0.29 0.665 3 Oper. / Day 4 Cycles / Oper.

IV Antiscalant 0.251 0.370 2 Oper./ Week 10 Cycles / Oper.
PhI Antiscalant 0.450 0.427 3 Oper. / Day 8 Cycles / Oper.
C2 & C3 Antiscalant 0.342 0.324 3 Oper. / Day 8 Cycles / Oper.
Jubail

C4 Antiscalant 0.270 0.257 3 Oper. / Day 8 Cycles / Oper.

C5 Antiscalant 0.300 0.302 3 Oper. / Day 8 Cycles / Oper.
Khobar II Antiscalant 0.453 0.458 3 Oper. / Day 9 Cycles / Oper.
Antiscalant 0.243 0.249 3 Oper. / Day 12 Cycles / Oper.
Yanbu I
Acid 0.243 0.249 One Oper./ Week 12 Cycles / Oper.
8 Cycles / Oper.
Al-Shuqaiq Antiscalant 0.22 0.22 3 Oper/ Day
( 16 for high TBT )
Al-Shoaiba Antiscalant 0.251 0.253 3 Oper/ Day 3 Cycles / Oper.
Al-Khafji Antiscalant 0.351 0.351 One Oper/ Day 9 Cycles / Oper.
24
Economic Impact of Antiscalant Dose Rate
Reduction in SWCC MSF Plants

9 7.86
8
7
Million US $

6
4.65
5
4 3.21
3
2
1
0
Antiscalant Annual Antiscalant Annual Annual Savings
Operating cost as Operating cost as
per 1987 dose rate per current dose
rate

25
 Significant reduction of
antiscalant dose ratee

Optimized Thermo-Dynamic
Design Parameters
Lessons learnt from )
Scale control
by anti-scalants

26
Optimized Thermo-Dynamic Design Parameters

Al-Khobar III 0.264 m2 oC/kW

Shuaiba II 0.211 m2 oC/kW

Shuaiba I 0.30 m2 oC//kW (1982)

BH Design
Fouling Al-Jubail II 0.176 m2 oC/kW (1983)

Factors
Jeddah II 0.086 m2 oC/kW (1977)

Yanbu 1 0.14 m2 oC/kW (acid)

Tawaleh ‘B’ 0.15 m2 oC/kW

Jebel Ali 0.12 m2 oC/kW
27
 Price Trend for turn-key complete MSF plants

14
12
12

10
8

$ / IGD
8
6 5
6 4

0
1985
1985 1990
1990 1995
1995 2000
2000 2013
2004
year

Reasons Constant Reduction of Investment per MIGD

• optimized use of materials of construction.
•Reduction of redundant equipment.
•Optimized mechanical design of evaporator vessel.
•Optimized thermo-dynamic design parameters.
28
 Significant reduction of
anti-scalant dose ratee

Optimized Thermo-Dynamic
Design Parameters
)
Lessons learnt from
Scale control MSF production capacities and
performance ratios are still
by anti-scalants maintained within or in most
cases higher than the design
values values.

29
 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
10.5
TBT= 90 & 98 oC
Al-Jubail II
Kg/2326 KJ

9.5 TBT = 90– 98 oC

PR

(PR)d=8.5
8.5 (PR)d=8.0 Prod. = 923–1250 m3/h

7.5
Kg/2326 KJ

8.5
TBT= 90 oC
7.5
Al-Khobar II
PR

6.5 (PR)d=6.5
TBT = 82– 92 oC
5.5 Prod. = 865– 975 m3/h
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360

10
TBT= 85 oC
Kg/2326 KJ

9
Al-Khafji
PR

(PR)d=8.2 TBT = 72.7– 88.7 oC

8 0
Prod. = 312– 490 m3/h
7
2 80
0

40

80

120

160

200

240

320

360
Days

30
30
 Significant reduction of
anti-scalant dose ratee

Optimized Thermo-Dynamic
Design Parameters
)
Lessons learnt from
Scale control MSF production capacities and
performance ratios are still
by anti-scalants maintained within or in most
cases higher than the design
values values.

High availability ,
Load Factor and long life time

31
 7% 3%

Availability

90% Planned Shutdown

Forced Shutdown

Average Availability for Al-Jubail Plant Phase II

(1983-2012)
9% 12%

91% 88%

Water Production Power Production

Design Deficiency Design Deficiency

Average Water and Power Load Factors for Al-

Jubail Plant Phase II (1983-2012)
32
32
S. Plants Year Capacity (migd) Life Time
1 Jeddah-III 1979 4x5 32
2 Jeddah-IV 1981 10 x 5 32
3 Al-Jubail-I 1982 6 x 6.2 31
4 Al-Khobar-II 1982 10 x 6 31
5 Al-Jubail-II 1983 40 x 5.38 30
6 Al-Khafji-II 1986 2 x 2.6 27
7 Shoaiba-I 1989 10 x 5.06 24
8 Shuqaiq-I 1989 4 x 6.5 24
9 Yanbu-I 1981 5x5 32
10 Yanbu-II 1999 4 x 7.94 14
11 Al-Khobar-III 2001 8 x 7.5 12
12 Shoaiba-II 2002 10 x 10 11
33
 Employ currently available commercial
chemical additives to extend the TBT
of MSF distillers up to 115oC

POTENTIAL FOR FURTHER

DEVELOPMENT
OF SCALE CONTROL
IN MSF PLANTS

34
Currently available commercial chemical additives can be
employed to operate MSF distillers up to 115oC

The MSF pilot plant at DTRI, Al-

Jubail was used to study the
performance of the three
commercially available
antiscalants which include two
different maliec acid based
copolymers and phosphonate
based antiscalant under very harsh
operating conditions
•

TBT of 119oC,
low dose rate of 1 ppm
and high concentration factor of 1.9
for a one month period.
A baseline test was also conducted
without dosing any antiscalant at
the same operating conditions 35
 Fouling Factor
0.2

0.18

y = 0.0023x + 0.0615 / No Antiscalant

0.16

Y=8E-05x+0.0805
0.14

0.12
Phosphonate
y = 8E-05xbased antiscalant
+ 0.0805 / DSB(M)
m2K/kW

0.1

0.08

y = 3E-05x + 0.0632 /maleic

Sokalanacid
PM based
10I antiscalant #2
0.06

0.04

y = 7E-05x + 0.0126 /maleic

Belgardacid based #1
EV2030
0.02

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Time in Hours

36
 Loss of Total Alkalinity (LTA)
90
80
80

70

60
(LTA), ppm

50

40

30

20 14 16
9
10

0
Maleic acid based Maleic acid based Phosphonate based
Sokalan PM 10I#2
antiscalant Belgardantiscalant
EV 2030 #1 DSB(M)antiscalant No Antiscalant

37
 Employ currently available commercial
chemical additives to extend the TBT
of MSF distillers up to 115oC

POTENTIAL FOR FURTHER

DEVELOPMENT
OF SCALE CONTROL
IN MSF PLANTS

Development of chemical additives that

Inhibit calcium sulfate salt precipitation
to extend the TBT of MSF distillers to
More than 120 oC

38
 PROSPECTS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF
MSF DESALINATION SYSTEMS

40000 10
Water production m3/d

9.5
35000

Zone

Performance ratio
Chemical
Chemicaladditives
additives pretreatment
pretreatment
9
30000

Acid zone
Prohibitive zone:
Prohibitive zone principal
.Principal 8.5
25000 deterrent is the
deterent is the formation
formation of
of hard 8

Acid
hard (sulfate)
(sulfate) scale scale
20000 7.5
7
15000
6.5
10000 6
80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150

Top brine temperature oC

39
39
Solubility limits for three forms of calcium sulphate in
seawater concentration

Safe Operation Region

40
 CONTROL OF NON-
ALKALINE SCALE

By operation below 120oC By operation above 120oC

Operate with low temperature

and salt concentration not Remove Ca++ or SO4 – – by
exceeding the solubility limits Nanofiltration or Ion Exchange

41
 MSF / MED Unit MSF / MED
Product

NF Unit
NF Product
Increase of TBT will lead to:
1. Increase GOR ( less
Seawater
ppm Rejection
energy consumption)
Ca 491 2. Increase water
Mg 1556 Ca 154 69% production.
TH 7633
NF Reject
HCO3 156 Mg 225 86% 3. Use less specific heat
SO4 3309 TH 1310 83% transfer area
TDS 45550 4. Low vacuum duty
HCO3 57 64% 5. Less pumping energy
SO4 75 98% 6. Decrease in demister size
TDS 33500 26%

Removing calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate and sulphate ions in the raw

seawater by NF membranes opened the possibility to be hybridized with
either MSF, MED or RO processes

42
42
 NF/RO/MSF Tri-hybird System

MSF Product
MSF Unit

NF Unit
Seawater NF Product SWRO Unit
RO Product
RO Reject
ppm Ca 154
Ca 491 Ca = 281
Mg 1556 Mg 225
TH 7633 Mg = 406
HCO3 156 TH 1310
SO4 3309
NF Reject HCO3 57 TH = 2350
TDS 45550
SO4 75
HCO3 = 101
SO4 = 128
TDS 33500
TDS =61410 43
14

13

12
Standalone MSF MSF Wthin Trihybrid Scheme
11

10

Pumping Pow er Mr/Md Mu/Md

Ad*102 PR 17 % Mc/Md 42 %
( m 2/kg/hr ) (kWh/m 3) 10% 23 %
39 %
34%

Comparison between the standalone MSF and

MSF combined with NF/RO configuration
44
Impact of energy cost on water production
cost
45
Conceptual design of an Improved Power/Water
Cogeneration Cycle

Fuel in GAS CYCLE

Combustion 1100 oC
Chamber
Power Output
Compressor Gas
Turbine
Air in Exhaust 600 oC
gases Waste Heat Boiler 500 oC
Steam Power Output
STEAM CYCLE Turbine
Cooling
Seawater
Rejection
Recovery Reject
Section
Section Seawater in
Brine
Heater Blowdown

Recycle Brine
RO Reject
REVERSE
OSMOSIS Product Water
Nano Filtration

46
 LESSON LEARNT

■ SWCC embarked upon a highly ambitious research program to

optimize dose rate of chemicals which are frequently used in
MSF distillers. Recommended antiscalant dose rates to SWCC
in 1981 were 12.5 and 4.5 for top brine temperature (TBT) of
110 and 90oC, respectively and are currently reduced to only
2.0 and 0.8 ppm for the respective temperatures.

47
 LESSON LEARNT

■ As the result of satisfactorily performance of scale control

chemical additives, MSF distillers which are over 30 years
old, instead of being derated due to ageing, actually
maintained production and performance ratios that equaled
or, in most cases, surpassed the original design
specifications.. This in turn, enhances the cost
effectiveness of MSF process.

48
 LESSON LEARNT Continued……

As a result of successful approach to control

alkaline scale formation, design fouling factors less
than 0.15 m2K/kW can be safely employed in new
additive MSF designs.

49
 LESSON LEARNT Continued……

■ Employing on-line ball tube cleaning with a ball to

tube ratio in the range of 0.22 to 0.45 proved to be a
successful mean to augment the role of chemical
additives to inhibit scale formation.

50
Thank You

51