Doosan pioneered the hybrid desalination system by incorporating the seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) and thermal multi stage flash (MSF) distillation processes to produce water. Hybrid desalination system can be simply described as efficient utilization of electrical power to produce water from the reverse osmosis plant when demand for electricity is low and full utilization of waste heat for producing water in the MSF or MED desalination plant when demand for power is high. The prime benefit of the hybrid process is the higher energy efficiencies, which result in lowering the cost of water, when compared with "Stand-Alone" desalination processes.
Other significant features of the hybrid system are:
- Greatly improved energy efficiency. By combining MSF/MED with SWRO there results in a reduction of total energy usage.
- Improved operating flexibility is achieved by the quick response time of the SWRO desalination plant to produce water.
- Improved finished water quality is achieved by the blending of distillate with permeate requiring a lower amount of post-treatment and remineralization.
- The hybrid system is both innovative and efficient. The Doosan hybrid plant has both improved efficiency and operational flexibility, creating water as well as power is production at the least costs.
The successful operation of Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, Fujairah Desalination Facility has confirmed the reduction in the cost of water, increased energy efficiency, improved operational flexibility and improved finished water quality. The total capacity of this facility is 100MIGD. The MSF portion contributes 62.5 MIGD while the SWRO process contributes 37.5 MIGD. This facility is capable of meeting the required quantity of water at the required quality year-round.