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.

La Marina Project Facts

• CAPACITY: 16,000 m3/day [4 MGD]
• 3 trains - 5,333 m3/day [1.4 MGD]
• 6 PX-220 PRESSURE EXCHANGERS PER SWRO TRAIN
• 95% EFFICIENCY GUARANTY
• PLANT STARTUP – JULY 2006
• ENERGY CONSUMPTION – 2.82 kWh/m3

“The technical support from ERI – in design, commissioning and operation has been essential to achieve a very satisfactory and successful result. It’s very important to emphasize that no maintenance labor has been required with the PX units. As a result, we have had no trouble or efficiency reduction during these first 15 months of operation with the first train using ERI’s energy recovery solution.”

   Salvador Martinez IASUR , Production Director

The Situation
The La Marina Cope Desalination Plant, located in Cabo Cope near Murcia in southwest Spain was built in July 2006 by Spanish contractor IASUR. The newly constructed 16,000 m3/day plant is providing water to the Comunidad de Regantes de La Marina for agricultural use. Water from the facility, in southeast Spain, will supplement the region’s current supply from irrigation wells. The plant is expected to supply water to 400 agriculturists in the region, specifically from Aguilas and Lorca, for approximately 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of crops. In addition, over 600 families will also benefit from this new water supply.

The Challenge
Contractor, IASUR, a water treatment company specializing in using the latest technologies for plant capacities up to 50,000 m3/day, and the local government were faced with issues including dry temperatures, drastic water shortage and environmental concerns from local community activists. As temperatures neared record levels this year, agricultural regions suffered a drought that adversely affected valuable crops. Drinking water to residents and water supply for farm usage reached critically low levels. Moreover, the high construction costs for new desalination plants threatened to increase the cost of water supply. Farmers, businesses and residents did not want to pay more for using desalinated water.

The Solution
Understanding the savings and benefits of SWRO desalination and being familiar with ERI’s isobaric energy recovery engineering expertise; forward thinking IASUR selected ERI’s PX Pressure Exchanger (PX) technology for the 16,000 m3/ day La Marina Cope Plant. To start, IASUR installed and is running the first SWRO train, with a capacity of 5,333 m3/day, while two more trains for approximately 5,333 m3/ day each are currently under construction. The client installed a total of 18 PX-220 energy recovery devices as part of the total solution.

As standard practice for all PX technology projects, experienced ERI technical services managers were commissioned to ensure successful completion of the plant. By implementing ERI’s energy recovery solution, IASUR and Comunidad de Regantes de La Marina will be able to continue to provide an affordable, reliable and environmentally conscious solution for their water demands.

The Result
The La Marina Cope Plant produced desalinated water successfully to fulfill the needs for farming and residential use. IASUR, an organization committed to maintaining nature and the balance of the ecosystem, discovered that with ERI’s PX technology, a sound, affordable water solution was possible.

The specific power consumption of the SWRO process with the PX devices; including feedwater, booster and high pressure pumps is 2.82 kWh/m3.

“El apoyo por parte del personal de ERI en las fases de diseño, puesta en marcha y operación han sido fundamentales para lograr un resultado gratamente satisfactorio”

“Es de destacar que durante los primeros 15 meses de operación del primer tren, no ha sido necesario llevar a cabo ninguna labor de mantenimiento de los PXs, no experimentando ningún problema ni perdida de rendimiento a lo largo de este tiempo.”

Salvador Martinez
IASUR , Director de Producción

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.