Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), recently signed an agreement with Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC), to initiate a pilot testing programme for desalination technology development.
A pilot desalination plant will be constructed to specifically focus on a novel design of Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) technology for seawater desalination which has been developed by QEERI. The testing programme will enable the development of a new concept to improve the energy efficiency of MED thermal technology.
Dr. Abdelnasser Aboukhlewa, scientist at QEERI, joint faculty at College of Science and Engineering (CSE), and the project lead of the advanced MED technology development, said: “The agreement allows QEERI to use its scientific and technical expertise at the pilot plant to be established at QEWC’s facility in Dukhan, which will support QEWC in its role managing the operation and maintenance of Qatar’s power and desalination plants.”
Under the agreement, QEWC is offering QEERI a site for a pilot plant installation, facilities and logistical support, including a supply of seawater, outfall of the brine and electricity. Aboukhlewa envisages three phases for the project established under the agreement. The first phase is to build an MED plant with a pilot testing programme using thermal technology, which is already in practice in Qatar. However, QEERI has developed new solutions to improve the efficiency of the technology, and this would reduce energy consumption by around 40 per cent, which in turn would decrease the water unit cost by 30 per cent.
Upon completion of the first phase, QEERI will introduce areas of improvement to MED technology. In phase two, QEERI will seek to find solutions for controlling corrosion, one of the major negative effects on material and equipment used in seawater desalination plants. QEERI will replace basic metal tubes used during the first phase of building the pilot plant with thermally enhanced polymeric tubes and is set to carry out tests to assess the performance of the new material.