Aquatech to deliver seawater desalination system for Sohar refinery in Oman

US-based water technology firm Aquatech has won a contract to design and supply a multiple effect distillation (MED) seawater desalination system for the Sohar Refinery Improvement Project in Oman.

The refinery project, which is owned by Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries (Orpic), will require uninterrupted supply of pure water for boilers as well as service water and potable water.

Under the terms of the contract, Aquatech will be responsible for the design, equipment supply, testing and commissioning of three MED units at the facility, along with its accessories and post treatment systems.

Petrofac-Daelim joint venture (JV) has the full engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the refinery project.

Aquatech will be delivering the system to the JV, in order to meet the requirement for distilled water within the stringent schedule of the project.

The firm is expected to deliver and commission the MED units in early 2016.

Aquatech Middle East sales manager Sandeep Rastogi said: "Aquatech is committed to ongoing innovation in the solutions it provides to customers around the globe.

"Our MED technology – a cornerstone of this project – has been developed and enhanced over decades of in-house research and onsite experience worldwide. It will provide a reliable source of water, which is very critical for operation of the refinery, considering that the area is prone to red tide, which affects the operation of desalination systems."

The scope of the contract includes provision for three multiple effect distillation with thermal vapour compression (MED-TVC) units, along with three fractional electrodeionisation (FEDI) demineralisation units and two remineralisation dosing skids.

While the FEDI units will deliver ultrapure water with less than 0.1ppm of dissolved solids for boiler feed, the remineralisation dosing skids will be used to produce service water and drinking water at the facility.

The desalination facility, which is expected to have a performance gain output ratio (GOR) of over 6.3, will purify seawater from the Indian Ocean to produce clean water with less than 5mg/l of total dissolved solids.

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Image: Orpics’s Sohar Refinery. Photo: courtesy of Jusoor.