Uniti LLC, a US-Russian industrial titanium venture jointly owned by Allegheny Technologies Inc and Verkhnaya Salda Metallurgical Production Association, announced on 16 December 2010 that it has been chosen to supply a significant portion of the commercially pure (CP) titanium to be used in the Ras Azzour desalination plant in Saudi Arabia.
Between 5.5 and 6.0 million pounds (2,500-2,720 million tonnes) of CP titanium strip is expected to be used to produce titanium tubing for the project, which will be the world’s largest seawater desalination plant.
This is the largest order in Uniti’s history. Shipments are planned to be spread evenly throughout 2011.
Uniti’s customer, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction of Korea, was selected by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation for the project. The hybrid plant’s capacity of 228 MIGD (1,036,500 m³/d) will be sufficient to meet the needs of 3.5 million people.