The International Desalination Association World Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse 2013 / Tianjin, China

REF: I DAWC/TI AN13-045

DESIGN CHALLENGES AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF A MEGA
MED SEAWATER DESALINATION PLANT IN TIANJIN

Authors: T. Efrat, Yu Haimiao

Presenter: Tomer Efrat
Deputy Manager, Thermal Process Dept. IDE Technologies Ltd. Israel
tomere@ide-tech.com

Abstract

This article is a continuation of the article "Sliding Pressure Turbine Integrated with Seawater
Desalination Facility (MED)" [1] presented at the IDA 2011 World Congress. The previous article
described a unique MED-TVC plant design that is able to integrate with a sliding pressure turbine to
supply motive steam to a thermal desalination process. This turbine is part of the Tianjin Beijing power
station, located in the south Hangu District along the Bohai Sea. The Tianjin power plant is a highly
efficient, large-scale engineering system, comprising power generation, seawater desalination and salt
production from brine. It is managed as an integrative system and is a representative project of a
circulating economy model in China, with the subentry of power, seawater desalination and in the
future, salt production from brine, which are interdependent upon one another.

To support this type of optimal power generation cycle along with a highly efficient desalination
process, the Tianjin MED-TVC operates under varying working conditions. This is possible due to its
robust design, and highly flexible operation to achieve optimum electricity and water production. The
MED-TVC facility includes eight desalination units, each with a capacity of 25,000 m
3
/day, totaling a
plant capacity of 200,000 m
3
/day.

This article presents operational experience gained from this project, while focusing on:

1. The integration between the power plant and the MED desalination plant
2. Main design parameters of both phases of the desalination plant for enabling operational
flexibility
3. Actual performance data of the desalination plant


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I. INTRODUCTION

The Tianjin Beijiang power station is located in the south, in the Hangu District along the Bohai Sea.
The south of the Hangu District is on the northwest coast of the Bohai Sea, east of Tianjin and at the
lower reaches of the Ji Canal.


Figure 1: Location of the Tianjin Desalination Plant

The Tianjin Beijing Power Plant is a large-scale engineering system with high efficiency, representative
of the circulating economy model in China. The project is composed of a power plant, seawater
desalination plant and salt production from brine, and is managed as an integrated system in which all
three parts are interdependent on each other.

The power plant is a 4 x 1000 MW ultra-critical coal fired power station and is coupled with a highly
efficient thermal desalination plant designed by IDE Technologies. Steam extracted from the power
plant turbine is used as motive steam for the desalination plant. The water produced by the desalination
plant is used as boiler make-up water, industrial process water and potable drinking water supplied to
the city. The brine from the seawater desalination plant is transferred to a salt field to produce salt.


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The Tianjin desalination plant makes an important contribution to local long-term water sustainability.
Specifically, water from the desalination plant has enabled:

End to economic activities coming to a standstill due to water shortages, increasing gross domestic
production.

Reduction of water extraction from the country's already overdrawn natural reservoirs of potable
water. This prevents further degradation of the natural reservoirs by saline water intrusion and
causes their levels to rise to hydrologically safe values.

General increase in water supply dependability to all consumer sectors.

Decrease in water hardness by mixing high-quality desalinated water with lower-quality water from
the water supply system. This blend can then be routed to industry and households that stand to gain
the most from enhancements in the quality of their water supply. This decreases scale formation in
domestic and industrial water heaters, piping, appliances and other equipment, and therefore a
reduction in detergents and scale-cleaning chemicals in the wastewater.

One of the key features of the Tianjin power plant is the independent operation of the electrical power
station. The 4 x 1000 MW ultra-critical coal fired power station utilizes a sliding pressure control
system. In this system, the boiler steam is regulated using pressure control in proportion to the generator
output. This operation mode enables the steam quality at the turbine inlet to be altered while maintaining
constant volume flows.


Figure 2: Tianjin Desalination Plant

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The turbine governing valve can be kept open at all steady state conditions, but must be modulated
slightly during load increase or decrease due to the lag in boiler response to a change in the load. Boiler
control output allows higher reheated steam temperature due to higher temperatures of the high pressure
turbine exhaust steam.

At partial loads, a decline in primary boiler output brings about a decrease in boiler feed water pump
output and energy demands.

When compared to constant pressure control by way of a turbine governing valve, partial operating
loads are more efficient in sliding pressure operation.

II. POWER PLANT CONTROL PHILOSOPHY AND ITS EFFECT ON THE OPERATION
OF THE DESALINATION PLANT

The power plant at Tianjin is capable of varying its electrical power generation during times of peak
water demand and vice versa. As a result, the desalination plants are designed to operate across a range
of steam supply conditions and are able to adjust output between 40% and 110%. The steam supplied to
the desalination plant is extracted from either the 5
th
or 6
th
low pressure turbine. In the event of a peak in
power demand, low pressure steam is extracted from the 6
th
bleed instead of the 5
th
, at pressures of
between 1.2 to 2.3 bara, which enables enhanced electricity production. On the other hand, in the event
of a peak in water demand, mid-range pressure is extracted from the 5
th
bleed with pressures ranging
from 6 to 3.1 bara. These extraction pressures represent a load variance of 100% to 50% in power
production over varying power plant efficiencies.
In phase 1 of the MED plant, the steam is routed to a different line in accordance with the pressure of the
steam supplied by the turbine. In the MED plants there are two thermo-compressor installed for handling
wide spectrum of steam pressure.

In phase 2, one varying nozzle thermo-compressor is the recipient of the entire pressure spectrum of the
steam supplied by the turbine. The steam supplied to phase 2 by the turbines is in the range of 6-1.8
bara.

III. THE MED DESALINATION PLANT

The Tianjin desalination plant has the largest capacity of any thermal desalination plant in China, with a
nominal capacity of 200,000 m
3
/day. This capacity is obtained by eight MED units, each with a nominal
capacity of 25,000 m
3
/day. The plants were erected in two phases of four units each. This capacity can
supply the daily freshwater needs of approximately 600,000 people. However, it is important to look and
evaluate the desalination plant not only by its size, but also for its contribution to the entire Tianjin
Beijiang plant.

When considering the Tianjin project as a single entity consisting of power, water and salt production,
the design of the desalination plant provided an important challenge in supporting both efficient power
and salt production. Supporting efficient power production is expressed in the ability to operate with a
variety of motive steam pressures that are extracted from the turbine, while supporting efficient salt
production is expressed in the ability to operate with a relatively high concentration factor, resulting in
constant brine salinity of 6.6%. In addition, the MED type desalination plants in this project have the

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ability to provide great flexibility in other operation parameters, such as production output, gain output
ratio (GOR), as well as operation with varying seawater temperatures and levels of salinity.


Figure 3: Tianjin MED Unit

3.1 Main Design Challenges of the Desalination Plant

The main challenges faced during the design of the desalination plant stemmed from both the type of
project, in which the desalination plant acts as the connecting link between the power generation and salt
production plants, and from environmental aspects. The main challenges of the project related aspects
arose from the need to be able to supply the full capacity of desalinated water while receiving variable
steam pressure from the power plant turbine, and from the need to operate at a relatively high
concentration factor to support efficient salt production. Among the environmental aspects the
challenges arose from the need to operate at a wide range of seawater temperatures and salinity levels,
and from the ambient conditions during the winter. This section provides a detailed description of the
design challenges, and the measures taken to meet them.

3.2 Operation with Variable Motive Steam Pressure

A TVC-MED desalination plant is typically designed to a specific motive steam pressure at which the
plant produces its nominal capacity. A change in motive steam pressure also affects the operation of the
plant; constant changes in the motive steam pressure affect the plant's ability to produce its nominal
capacity while maintaining its temperature profile across the plant evaporator. However, when
considering a desalination plant coupled with a sliding pressure turbine power plant, the most significant
aspect of the operation flexibility comes from the ability to operate the plant with steam pressures
varying from almost 0.3 to 6 bara from the power plant turbine. The plants' remarkable ability is due to
its robust design including two types of thermo-compressors, a back-pressure line in phase 1 and a

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varying nozzle thermo-compressor in phase 2. These configurations are the perfect match for sliding
pressure turbines such as those installed at Tianjin as they allow the MED to be utilized over a much
wider range of pressures, and increases the efficiency of the entire. Another degree of freedom in the
operation of the combined cycle is achieved by extracting the steam from the power plant to the MED
from cascading turbine bleeds. This flexibility allows regulating the amount of electricity produced
relative to the amount of water that is to be desalinated.

In practice, the motive steam pressure is provided to the desalination plant according to the power plant
operating conditions and power generation requirements. A pressure indicator, installed at the battery
limit of the desalination plant, continuously monitors the motive steam pressure, allowing the plant
control system to react to the pressure changes by automatically operating the steam valves system and
directing the steam to the proper thermo-compressor and/or adjusting the thermo-compressor position
(in case of variable nozzle thermo-compressor).

Figure 4 shows the thermo-compressor arrangement.



Figure 4: Thermo-Compressor Arrangement

According to the plant design, the change in motive steam pressure also affects the GOR of the plant in
the range of 11 to 15. In terms of the plant water production, the plant design secures full water
production of 25,000 ton/day at all motive steam pressures, which allows the operation of a thermo-
compressor. In case of the use of back pressure steam (pressure of below 1 bara), the plants achieve
water production of 21,500 ton/day.

The graph below shows the change in the plant design GOR and water production with variable steam
pressure.


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Figure 5: Change in Plant Design GOR and Water Production

3.3 Operation with Variable Seawater Temperature and Salinity

The ambient temperature in the Tianjin vicinity changes significantly during the course of the year and
can vary between -25C and 40C. As a result, the temperature of seawater supplied to the desalination
plant as feed water can vary between -2C and 33C. As the temperature of the feed water is essential
for maintaining a proper temperature profile along the MED evaporator, the temperature of the seawater
entering the MED falling film condenser (FFC) is continuously controlled by the plant feed water
system illustrated in Figure 6.


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Figure 6: Plant Feed Water System

The feed water system allows utilization of the heat rejected via the plant product and brine streams for
heating the water during cold periods, using plate-and-frame heat exchangers. As the seawater
temperature rises during the course of the year, the feed water gradually and automatically by-passes the
heat exchanger and is introduced directly into the FCC. As the seawater temperature rises above about
29C the plant starts using cooling water received from the cooling tower. Using the design presented,
and by utilizing the plants rejected heat for seawater pre-heating, it is possible to obtain a proper
temperature profile across the MED evaporator during the entire year. The graph below indicates the
change in the plants incoming and rejected streams with variable seawater temperatures.


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Figure 7: Change in Plant Incoming and Rejected Streams with Variable Seawater Temperatures

The ambient temperatures at the site also provide an additional challenge in the operation of the
desalination plant during the cold winters, in which the temperature can drop down to -25C. To address
these extreme ambient temperatures, special measures were taken in the design of a winterization system
for each of the plants including insulation, electric tracing, drainage system and a related control system.
Special measures were taken for the operation of the plant, as well as for its shutdown procedure during
sub-zero ambient temperature. The winterization system was designed to ensure complete drainage of
the desalination plants during shutdown at these conditions to ensure that there is no freezing of stagnant
water, which can result in pipe cracks due to ice expansion.

In addition to its temperature, the salinity of the seawater can also vary between 2.7% and 3.3%. As
brine salinity is essential for efficient salt production, the plant is designed to maintain a relatively high
brine salinity of 6.6%. To reach this figure throughout the year, the brine salinity is controlled by
sending a portion of the brine back to the feed water stream to maintain constant feed water salinity.




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IV. DESALINATION PLANT OPERATING DATA VS. DESIGN

From the initial operation, the desalination plants in Tianjin were operated across the entire range of
operating conditions described above.

Table 1 shows the performance summary of the desalination plants, in the form of measured data versus
design data.


Table 1: Desalination Plant Performance Summary

Description Unit Design Measured
Maximum production % 110 113
ton/day 27,500 28,250
Minimum production % 40 38
ton/day 10,000 9,500
Distillate quality ppm 5 2
ER 13 13 to 14
@ 1.2 bar abs steam 15 15 to 16
@ 5 bar abs steam
Power consumption kwh/ton 1.5 1.50


V. CONCLUSIONS

The Tianjin Beijing power station is an inspiring example of a hybrid power, water desalination and salt
generation solution. This type of project, where the desalination plant acts as a connecting link between
the power and salt generation, comprises a significant challenge for the desalination plant design in
achieving high overall efficiency of all three parts of the project. This great challenge is met by the
design of the MED-TVC desalination plant in Tianjin, which provides the required flexibility to an
efficient power generation operation together with high efficient water production, as was presented in
this article,. The operation experience gathered since the commissioning of the first desalination plant at
the end of 2009, shows high performance parameters of the desalination plants, while successfully
addressing the entire range of challenges presented.






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VI. REFERENCES

1. "Sliding Pressure Turbine Integrated with Seawater Desalination Facility (MED)" By Hagay Shemer,
presented at the IDA 2011 World Congress
Figure 8: Tianjin MED Unit adjacent to Power Plant