Degrémont has obtained provisional acceptance of the extension to the Santa Barbara desalination plant, located on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. Provisional acceptance was received on October 8 last, when acceptance testing was satisfactorily completed for the extension, which enables an increase in the total water production capacity of the plant from 18,000 to 25,100 m3/day.
The existing facility, also built by Degrémont and delivered at the beginning of 2006 to Aqualectra –the utility responsible for the production and distribution of energy and water on the island- comprised 3 two-pass lines, each with a capacity of 6,000 m3/day. Increased water demand on the island made the extension necessary and it was decided to add a new single-pass reverse osmosis line with a production capacity of 7,100 m3/day. The final plant configuration comprises 4 first pass racks and 3 second pass racks.
The term for completion of the project was 20 months and the work consisted of extending the reverse osmosis building (anti-hurricane building) for the integration of the new line. This line comprises: intake pump, cartridge filter, high-pressure pump with Pelton turbine, reverse osmosis rack with option to send the water to the 2nd pass racks or to the 2nd pass by-pass, and extension to the osmotic balance tank.
A new transfer pump to send the water to post-treatment was installed and the three existing transfer pumps were remodelled. The ultraviolet disinfection system was enlarged and two new closed calcite filters were installed for remineralisation. Many of the chemical reagent installations were relocated and enlarged, while the work carried out also included the adaptation of auxiliary installations.
A particularly interesting technical aspect of this extension is that the new rack installed features a hybrid membrane design,QuantumFlux™ SW 400SR + QuantumFlux SW 400R (2+5) from NanoH2O. These are the first membranes on the market in which nanotechnology is used in the manufacturing process. The production capacity is satisfactorily achieved with a design of just 65 pressure vessels, compared to the 92 vessels required by a conventional design with lower pressure and better quality.
Prior to the extension, the Santa Barbara desalination plant supplied 50% of average drinking water consumption on the island of Curaçao, making it vitally important for the extension and integration work to be carried out while the plant was functioning normally. The total downtime of the plant for the integration of new equipment and installations (GRP pipes, electrical installations, automation systems, osmotic balance tank, etc.) was set at a maximum of 48 hours and the total number of days of production lost due to the execution of the work was just 6 days in the 20-month period.