Case Study Detail

PX® Technolgy Reducing Energy and Overall Costs

The Industry Standard Solution
The efficiency and lifecycle costs of a plant’s energy recovery technology is critical to both winning SWRO projects and achieving maximum plant profitably through the lowest operating costs. Leading international OEM’s such as Acciona Agua, Aqua Engineering, Befesa, CH2MHill, Cobra Tedagua, Doosan Hydro Technology, Fisia Italimpianti, GE Water Process and Technologies, GEIDA, IASUR, INIMA, Metito, Siemens and Suez Degrémont have selected the ERI® PX modular technology for their recent projects because it consistently achieves real energy transfer efficiencies—up to 98%, making it the most efficient energy recovery device available today. At the core of the PX device is a single moving rotor made of tough engineered ceramic that is unaffected by chemicals, will not corrode, and requires no periodic maintenance. Over 80 OEMs are standardizing on PX technology with installations around the world, including plants such as Al Shuaibah III, Barcelona, Chennai, Hamma, Perth, Skikda, Torrevieja and Yuhuan.

Ridgewood Project Facts

• CAPACITY: 1.500 m3/day [.4 MGD]
• 1 train - 1,500 m3/day [.4 MGD]
• 4 PX-140 PRESSURE EXCHANGERS PER SWRO TRAIN
• 95% EFFICIENCY GUARANTY
• PLANT STARTUP – AUGUST 2007

With the retrofit, Ridgewood installed one train with four ERI PX-140 Pressure Exchanger devices to produce 1,500 m3/day of fresh water, tripling the capacity of the previous plant.

The Situation
Ridgewood Egypt has provided over 20 local desalination plants, with capacities ranging between 500 and 6,000 cubic meters on a build, own and operate basis. The plant was built in 1999 and is located in the town of Hurghada, a Red Sea Governorate. It produced 500 m3/day of potable water to serve the Golden Five Resort which is one of the biggest in the area with over 1200 hotel rooms. Ridgewood decided to retrofit its plant, which previously included a turbo charger energy recovery device with an Energy Recovery, Inc. (ERI) PX technology solution. Currently, plant capacity is at 1,500 m3/day.

The Challenge
The Golden Five Resort desalination plant could not catch up with the fast increasing demand of water due to a booming tourist economy. The Red Sea region, a popular destination for European tourists, is also isolated from the national power grid and must produce its own electricity. A lack of local water resources makes resorts totally dependent on locally desalinated water. The Golden Five Resort needed to expand its 500 m3/day water production capacity; however there was no desire to expand civil works.

The Solution
In August 2007, ERI worked with Ridgewood to provide an expansion of the Golden Five plant from its prior 500 m3/day permeate capacity to 1,500 m3/day. The previous plant consisted of two trains of 500 m3/day using turbo charger energy recovery devices. With the retrofit, Ridgewood installed one train with four ERI PX-140 Pressure Exchanger devices to produce 1,500 m3/day of fresh water, tripling the capacity of the previous plant.

The retrofit project took no more than one week to complete, from PX and new membrane installation to commissioning and review. ERI’s services team was also requested to provide P&ID review, startup support and on-site training.

The Result
After project completion, Ridgewood increased their original water production capacity by three times – from 500 m3/ day to 1,500 m3/day in a short amount of time. No extra building or civil works expansion was necessary, and most importantly, the resort occupants service to water was never disrupted.

Energy Recovery, Inc. (ERI®) is a leading manufacturer of energy recovery devices, which help make desalination affordable. ERI’s PX Pressure Exchanger® technology (PX®) is a rotary positive displacement pump that recovers energy from the high-pressure waste stream of sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) systems at up to 98% efficiency with no downtime or scheduled maintenance.

ERI has research, development and manufacturing facilities in the San Francisco technology corridor as well as direct sales offices and technical support centers in key desalination hubs such as Madrid, Dubai, Shanghai and Florida. ERI service representatives are based in Algeria, Australia, China, India, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan and the Caribbean.