South Korea’s First 16-inch RO Desalintion Plant: Operation and Maintenance Experience

Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plants require complicated design, construction, and operation procedures because they generally involve various different systems such as intake, pretreatment, RO membranes, post-treatment, and brine outfall/management. Although several SWRO desalination plants have been constructed and operated in South Korea for the past decade, they have been mostly equipped with 4-inch or 8-inch RO elements. In April 2011, we installed a 0.25 mgd (1000 m3/d) SWRO desalination plant with 16-inch RO elements in Busan, South Korea. This plant was the first 16-inch RO desalination plant in South Korea. As larger size of RO elements have marketed, operation and maintenance of those systems are challenging because they are new to the desalination communities. This presentation will provide our experience in startup and operation of the 16-inch RO desalination plant.

This presentation is available to AMTA Members only.