Design features of a 20 migd SWRO desalination plant, Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia

The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), Saudi Arabia, began operating reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants as early as in 1978 with small capacities and is now operating the largest seawater RO plants in the world. The rich experience gained by SWCC in more than 20 years of operation of these plants has been used to address some of the problems faced earlier and in improving the design of the new RO plants. One of the recent RO plants, which is due for commissioning, is the 91,000 m(3)/d plant at Al Jubail, on the coast of the Arabian Gulf. When placed in operation, it will be among the largest seawater RO desalination plants in the world. Considering the significance of a well designed pretreatment section for the successful operation of any RO plant, a pilot filtration plant was placed in operation during August 1993. The trials were carried out over a period of more than one year and the results were adapted in the plant design. This paper presents the salient design features of the plant and the improvements made.