Keppel to build membrane-distillation demonstration plant

A membrane-distillation desalination demonstration plant powered by waste heat is to be built as part of research by the Keppel Environmental Technology Centre (KETC) in Singapore, using Keppel’s Memstill technology.

Memstill technology is licensed from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).

The demonstration plant was announced on 30 June 2010 at the opening of the Keppel Seghers Tuas Waste-To-Energy Plant in Singapore. It will be built at Singapore Refining Company’s petroleum refinery on Jurong Island and will have a freshwater production capacity of 100m³/d. 


Michael Chia, deputy chairman and CEO of Keppel Integrated Engineering Ltd (KIE), stated, “I am pleased to announce that with the support of the Environment & Water Industry Programme Office, PUB and the Economic Development Board through the TechPioneer grant, we will be taking a big stride in our water solutions with the construction of a Memstill demonstration plant located on Jurong Island during the fourth quarter this year.” 


KETC is a research and development centre that KIE set up in 2007 to initiate, manage and conduct R&D, product development, engineering process improvement, project management improvement and knowledge management activities within the KIE Group.