IDE Technologies is to build and operate a seawater reverse osmosis desalination facility at Mai-Liao Power Plant in Yunlin County, west Taiwan.
The contract with Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) is for a 105,000 m3/d desal plant to produce water for use in its oil refinery operations at the site, plus two years’ operations and maintenance.
The project is going ahead after the Taiwan government reduced water rights for FPCC, in favour of agriculture in the region.
The plant will use IDE’s boron removal system to meet FPCC’s highly challenging boron concentration level requirement of less than 0.01 ppm, and to optimise energy and chemicals consumption.
“The quality of boron in this plant is extremely low, which was an exciting milestone for us. We believe that we have attained an industry first, while maintaining high water quality,” said IDE Projects chief executive Amnon Levy.
The solution aims to help Mai-Liao Power Plant to meet its water requirements and to comply with local regulations for discharging blowdown water.
IDE will design the plant, supply and install equipment, commission the plant, and supervise operations and maintenance for two years.