Ultrafiltration modules from Germany’s inge watertechnologies AG have been ordered for a 80,000 m³/d seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plant at the Emirates Steel Industries steelworks in Mussafah, UAE.
Italian construction firm Bernardinello Engineering SpA chose Multibore membranes from inge when it built the original water treatment facility in 2009 for the steelworks in the industrial quarter of Abu Dhabi. The project to expand the plant will now see a total of 574 dizzer® 5000 plus modules each featuring a 50 m² membrane surface area coming online from 2011 onwards in a layout of seven racks.
The UF facility is also to be used to treat the blowdown water from the steelworks cooling towers.
Ralf Krüger, the inge sales manager responsible for this project, sums up what is required: “The mixture of seawater and process water in the treatment facility makes this project particularly challenging. Approximately 10% of the feedwater comes from the production process. The specific requirements stipulated for this facility included achieving SDI values below 2, even though the raw water often has an SDI value in excess of 15.”