DESALINATION

Desalination 166 (2004) 287-294

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Characteristics of dual purpose MSF desalination plants

Ibrahim S. A1-Mutaz*, Abdullah M. A1-Namlah
Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University,
P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia
Tel. +966 (1) 4676870; Fax +966 (1) 4682858; e-maih almutaz@ksu.edu.sa
Received 4 March 2004; accepted 12 March 2004

Abstract

All of the Saudi large MSF plants operate within the context of dual-purpose facilities for the simultaneous
production of power and water. Such co-generation arrangement uses either backpressure or extraction condensing
turbine. Co-generation cycles which were used till 1982 were employing extraction condensing turbines with a
power to water ratio ranging between 10.2 to 17.5 MW/migd. From 1983 onwards backpressure turbines were used
in all new co-generation plants. Backpressure turbines give lower power to water ratio (high water demand) and
they are also characterized by high thermal efficiencies. They make the best use of low-grade heat that would
otherwise be rejected by the power generating plant cycle. This paper aims to study the characteristics of the dualpurpose MSF desalination plants with special reference to the Saudi experience in this field. The challenge that
faces these plants is to provide an operation that satisfy the diverse operational requirements imposed by power and
water production and yet retain the inherent economic advantages of the dual-purpose concept. '
Keywords: Seawater desalination; Multi-stage flash (MSF); Dual purpose; Cogeneration; Performance; Characteristics

I. Introduction

Most of the potable water and electricity in

the Arabian Gulf countries are produced by dualpurpose multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination plants.
A dual-purpose plant is the one that supplies heat
for a thermal desalination unit and produces
*Corresponding author.

electricity for distribution to the electrical grid.

MSF desalination plants need mainly thermal
energy, which is convenient to be supplied by lowor medium-pressure steam (sub-atmospheric or
below 3 bar, respectively). Dual-purpose MSF
desalination plants are economically attractive
options for desalination because tile cost of the plant
is allocated to two products (water and electricity).

Presented at the EuroMed 2004 conference on Desalination Strategies in South Mediterranean Countries: Cooperation
between Mediterranean Countries of Europe and the Southern Rim of the Mediterranean. Sponsored by the European
Desalination Society and Office National de l'Eau Potable, Marrakech, Morocco, 30 May-2 June, 2004.
0011-9164/04/$- See front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
doi;10.1016/j.desal.2004.06.083

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I.S. Al-Mutaz, A.M. Al-Namlah / Desalination 166 (2004) 287-294

Dual-purpose desalination plant has many

economic advantages over single purpose plants,
such as lower financial investment due to sharing
of facilities, less fuel consumption and less manpower requirement. However it suffers from some
disadvantages, e.g. less overall flexibility and
slightly lower availability factor.
Large-scale power-desalting projects undertaken in recent years were reviewed byAwerbuch
[ 1] underlined the importance of the power/water
ratio in selecting the appropriate technology.
Typical power to water ratios for dual MSF desalination plants are shown in Table 1. The powerto-water ratio is defined as megawatt of power
generated per million gallons/day of fresh water
produced. The values in the table were estimated
with knowledge of the achievable gain output ratio
(GOR) in MSF desalination plants and the turbine
efficiency in power plants. GOR is the ratio ofkg
of water produced per kg of steam used. Values
of GOR are often between 8 to 10 with a practical
maximum of 12, which corresponds to about
55 kWh/m 3 of thermal energy. As clearly shown
in Table 1, a backpressure steam coupling system
requires half the power plant capacity compared
to an extraction steam coupling system.
The characteristics of large Saudi dual-purpose
MSF desalination plants will be reviewed. This
Table 1
Typical power to water ratios for dual MSF desalination
plants
Technology
Steam turbine BTG
Steam turbine EST
GT-HRSG
Combinedcycle BTG
Combinedcycle EST

Power-to-waterratioa
5
10
8
16
19

a Power to water ratio - - MW power generatedper mgd

of water produced
BTG-- backpressure turbine generator
EST-- extraction steam turbine
GT - - gas turbine
HRSG - - heat recovery steam generator

will exhibit the Saudi experience in the desalination field.

2. Co-generation and dual MSF desalination

plants
MSF desalination plants need mainly thermal
energy, which is convenient to be supplied by lowor medium-pressure steam (sub-atmospheric or
below 3 bar, respectively). They need also secondary and tertiary mechanical energy for pumping
and maintaining vacuum, which is normally
supplied by electricity (and possibly, for gas
pumping, by high- or medium-pressure steam).
In efficient MSF plants it is equivalent to about
8.1 kWh (+15%) per m 3 [2]. The additional
secondary and tertiary mechanical and electrical
energies are equivalent to 2.5-4.5 kWh/m 3 for
MSF plants.
The steam source for MSF desalination plants
can be a dedicated or non-dedicated (co-generation) plant. The former provides energy exclusively for the desalination process and water is
the only product out of the complex. The latter
provides only part of its energy to the desalination
process, and the rest of the energy is used to
generate electricity. Co-generation is an economically attractive option for desalination because
the cost of the plant is allocated to two product
streams. A number of large co-generation power
and desalination plants have been built in various
parts of the world in recent years. Combined
power and water production represents the largest
use of the co-generation concept with over
25,000 MW of installed world electrical capacity
[3].
A co-generation plant, which produces both
electricity and good quality water, is often called
a dual-purpose plant. A dual-purpose desalination
plant is a process that produces both power and
desalted water with the optimum use of thermal
energy in producing the two products. It offers a
considerable saving in energy usage. For example
a single-purpose power plant producing electrical

LS. AI-Mutaz, A.M. Al-Namlah / DesaBnation 166 (2004) 287-294

power of 1000 MW requires 3000 MW of thermal

power. The remaining 2000 MW are exhausted
as low temperature waste heat. To produce
1135x 103 m3/d (300 mgd) of desalted water in a
single-purpose plant requires about 3000 MW, all
of which ultimately is discharged as low temperature waste heat. The total sum of the two separate
single-purpose plants requires 6000 MW and
exhausts 5000 MW to the atmosphere as waste
heat. For a dual-purpose plant produces the same
two products (1000 MW of electricity and
1135 x 103 m3/d of water) the total thermal requirement is only 4000 MW, and the total waste heat
exhausted is 3000 MW. Thus a savings of
2000 MW is realized, and the exhaust heat load
is reduced from 5000 MW to 3000 MW [4].
Dual-purpose desalination plant has the following economic advantages over single purpose
plants [5]:
Lowerfinancial investment due to sharing o f
facilities. Seawater supply and brine outfall,

land requirement and site preparation costs are

less, and some ancillary equipment such as
pumps, compressors, lighting, transformers as
well as administrative buildings can be used
in common. For evaporative desalination there
is saving in steam generators and final condensers.
Less f u e l consumption. The total fuel consumption is less since some main components
are larger in dual-purpose plants, thus having
higher efficiencies. Also, energy is saved in
shared facilities and common sub-systems as
well as by short distance energy transport.
Less manpower requirement. A dual-purpose
plant requires fewer staff than the two singlepurpose plants because of joint operation of
common facilities.
However, a dual-purpose plant also has disadvantages, some of which are as follows:
Less overallflexibility. Its operation is not as
flexible as a single-purpose plant. There is
economic pressure to maximise the combined

289

production of water and power. In particular,

it is desirable to operate a power plant near
base load to be most economic. The same is
true in most cases for desalination. However,
such design and operation may reduce the plant
flexibility and cause some indirect penalties.
Certain designs provide, indeed, for variation
in the water to electricity ratio, but at the cost
of efficiency or extra investment.
Slightly lower availability factor. Any incident
interrupting the output of one of the two
products may lead to a disturbance or stoppage
in the production of the other, thus increasing
the cost per unit product. It is possible to improve the plant availability as a whole and
reduce this cost-increase by connecting reverse
osmosis (RO) units to the grid or adding devices
such as bypass steam lines so that steam can
be directed to the evaporative desalination
plant if the turbo-generator is out of operation.
Likewise, addition of an auxiliary condenser
enables the power plant to be operated if the
desalination plant is shutdown. However, these
devices involve extra investment.
Off-optimum site and timing. The optimal
location and/or commissioning date of the
desalination plant, from the aspects of water
conveyance, distribution and supply, may not
coincide with those of the power plant, bearing
another penalty.
There are two types of co-generation modes:
Parallel co-generation,
Series co-generation.
In parallel co-generation, electricity is produced as co-product along with desalted water by
diverting part of the steam to the turbine to
produce electricity and part of the steam to the
desalination plant. This configuration allows
increased flexibility in energy usage. However,
the total energy consumption would be the same
as if the steam for desalination and electricity had
been separately produced.

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1.S. Al-Mutaz, A.M. AI-Namlah ~Desalination 166 (2004) 287-294

In series co-generation, electricity is produced

by expanding the steam first through a-turbine and
then to the desalination process. This form of cogeneration results in reduced total energy consumption as compared to parallel co-generation.
From the thermodynamic point of view, it is useful
to convert most of the steam enthalpy to mechanical/electrical energy in the turbo-generator
before using it as a heating medium in a thermal
desalination plant for producing desalted water.
Raising the turbine backpressure increases the
temperature of the heat available to the desalination plant but reduces the amount of electricity
generated. Therefore, in series co-generation the
turbine backpressure must be optimized relative
to overall plant economics.
The optimum configuration for co-generation
of power and water depends greatly on the powerto-water ratio at different periods of electricity and
water demand. In winter, when the power demand
is low and the water demand is continuously high,
selection of a plant arrangement with a high
power-to-water ratio will result in a significant
amount of idle power. The marginal cost of water
would rise significantly if auxiliary boilers or
bypass steam turbines have to be used by the
pressure reducing station to keep the desalination
plant at full capacity.
For a plant requiring higher power-to-water,
normally the backpressure scheme is recommended. On the other hand, the extraction scheme
is preferred for satisfying low power-to-water
requirements. In the backpressure scheme all the
steam is expanded in the turbine to an elevated
turbine backpressure depending on its design.
Then low-grade steam exiting the turbine is passed
directly to the brine heater where it releases its
latent heat of vaporization. The condensate is
returned to the heat source through a feed water
heater. This scheme requires relatively low investment and has a good efficiency when operated at
rated capacity. However, backpressure systems
cannot vary their power-to-water ratio. In the case
of coupling to MSF, the steam flow must remain

relatively constant and therefore the plant must

be preferentially base loaded.
In the extraction scheme, the steam is expanded
in a high-pressure turbine to a selected pressure
depending on the design. It is then distributed
between two flows. In the first, it passes to the
brine heater and in the second to a low-pressure
turbine where steam is expanded to a vacuum
condenser. The extraction scheme enables the
water plant to be permanently supplied with
expanded steam independently of power load.
The above two schemes can be considered
based on the specific power and water requirements at a particular location in the country.
Some other types of schemes may be considered for obtaining steam from power plants for
desalination as given below:

Low-pressure steam can be supplied to a desalination plant from an existing low-pressure

turbine by operating at higher exhaust pressure,
but in general this is limited to around 0.2 bar.
The power loss is low in this case resulting in
low steam cost. However, the low steam pressure limits the top brine temperature, and thus
a high GOR cannot be achieved.
The steam can be extracted from the cross-over
pipe to the low pressure turbine. This steam
has a relatively high energy content compared
to that required for low temperature heating
purposes. This results in a higher relative
power loss. On the other hand, a high GOR
can be achieved in the desalination plant by
incorporating a larger number of stages/effects
subject to design limitations.
Low-pressure steam at desired pressure could
be taken from extraction ports of an extraction/
condensing turbine. In this type of coupling
arrangement, the full electrical output could
come back on line if the desalination plant is
shutdown. The turbine arrangement has a
higher flexibility for variable water production
to power production ratio.
A backpressure turbine and a condensing
turbine can be installed in parallel. The back-

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l.S. Al-Mutaz, A.M. Al-Namlah / Desalination 166 (2004) 287-294

pressure turbine steam exhaust at desired conditions would be coupled to the desalination plant.

3. Large Saudi MSF design features

Table 2 shows the major Saudi desalination
plants that were on operation or under construction
under full supervision of Saline Water Conversion
Corporation (SWCC). Nine o f the 23 total operated desalination facilities in Saudi Arabia are dual
system plants that generate about 3,600 MW of
electricity per day or 33% o f the total power
generated in the country.
Large MSF plants operate within the context
of dual-purpose facilities for the simultaneous
production o f power and water. Such co-generation arrangement uses either backpressure or
extraction condensing turbine. Co-generation

cycles which were used till 1982 were employing

extraction condensing turbines with a power to
water ratio ranging between 10.2 to 17.5 MW/migd.
From 1983 onwards backpressure turbines were
used in all new co-generation plants. Backpressure
turbines give lower power to water ratio (high
water demand) and they are also characterized by
high thermal efficiencies. They make the best use
of low-grade heat that would otherwise be rejected
by the power generating plant cycle.
Saudi MSF distillers are characterized by a
wide range of design features and performance
characteristics [6]. Distiller production capacity
ranges from 2.5 to 10.0 migd. Performance ratios
vary between 5.6 and 10.6 kg/2326 kJ (2.39 to
4.57 kg/1000 kJ). Salient features of Saudi MSF
plants are shown in Table 3 [6]. All the MSF
distiller are operated with brine recirculation

Table 2
Major Saudi MSF desalination plants
Plant

Start-up year

Installed capacity
Water
mgd

In operation
Al-Wajh II
A1-Wajh ext 1
A1-Wajh ext 2
Rabig I
Farasan I
Farassan ext I
Jeddah II
Jeddah III
Jeddah IV
Medinah-Yanbu I
Shoaibah I
Assir I
AIKhafji II
A1Khobar II
A1-Jubail I
A1-Jubail II
Under construction:
Medinah-Yanbu II
AI-Khobar II
Shoaibah II

Power
m3/d

MW

1979
1986
1989
1982
1979
1984
1978
1979
1982
1980
1989
1989
1986
1983
1982
1983

0.125
0.218
0.273
0.520
0,114
0.284
10.000
20.000
50.000
25.000
48.000
20.000
4.920
51.126
30.653
211.036

473
825
1,032
1,978
430
1,075
37,850
75,700
189,250
95,000
181,800
75,700
18,624
193,536
116,035
798,864

------71
200
500
250
190
45
-500
238
812

----

60.000
74.000
120.000

227,200
280,000
455,000

150
467
515

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LS. Al-Mutaz, A.M. AI-Namlah / Desalination 166 (2004) 287-294

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293

I.S. AI-Mutaz, A.M. A1-Namlah / Desalination 166 (2004) 287-294

modes and the majority is with cross flow configuration except Jeddah II and IV, which have
long tube configurations. Number of stages varies
from 16 in Alkhobar and Jeddah III up to 34 in
Jeddah II.
A1-Jobail II MSF plant is the world largest
desalination plant. It comprises 40 MSF units each
producing 23,500 mVd (6.21 mgd). The plant consists o f 10 steam turbine generator units with a
total capacity of 1,295 MW. The following is a
brief description of the plant [12,13]. The plant
was built in three contracts; 20 units, 10 units and
10 units. Thirty of the units have 19 stages in the
heat recovery section and 3 stages in the heat
rejection section. The remaining 10 units have 17
stages in the heat recovery section and 2 stages in
the heat rejection section. The units are arranged
in 4 blocks o f 10 desalination plants.
The evaporator are cross tube type. Table 4
shows the design details o f the evaporator tubes
in different plant sections. Evaporators are

designed for two modes o f operations; low

temperature operation (LTO) at 90.6C and high
temperature operation (HTO) at 112.8C. Table 5
summarizes the major design parameters of these
conditions.
Seawater is deaerated to get oxygen content
of less than 20 ppb. Anti-foam materials are added
before the deaerators to overcome foaming in the
deaerators. Sodium sulfite is then injected to
reduce the dissolved oxygen to zero. An on-line
sponge-ball cleaning system is used to remove any
perception in the heat recovery section, The
average ball circulation rate was 8 balls per tube
per day. Polyphosphate or polymers are injected
also for better scale control and minimization o f
heat transfer fouling. The average polyphosphate
dosing rate was 3.9 ppm. The average rate of
fouling accumulation in the heat recovery section
is about 1.32x10 -8 m 2 K/Wh at LTO. So the LTO
operating period is 13,000 h (1.48 y) to accumulate the design recovery fouling resistance of

Table 4
Evaporator tube information in A1-Jobail II MSF plant
Item

Brine heater

Recovery section

Rejection section

Tube material
Tube wall thickrness, mm
Tube OD, mm
Tube length, turn

66 Cu/30 Ni/2 Fe/2 Mn

1.245
39.0
14.3

90-10 Cu/Ni
1.245
39.0
19.9

Titanium
0.711
29.0
19.9

Table 5
Operation design parameters ofA1-Jobail II MSF plant
Item
Max. brine temperature, C
Max. brine concentration, ppm
Distillate capacity, m3/hr
Performance ratio, kg/mJ
Average energy consumption, kW
Brine velocity in tube, m/s
Recovery fouling, m2 K/W
Brine heater fouling, m2 K/W
Scale control additive dosing rate, ppm
Scale control additive type

LTO

HTO

90.6
64,900
985.0
3.44
3873.3

12.8
61,800
1163.3
4.09
3729.2

1.98

1.58

0.000176
0.000176
5
Polyphosphate

0.000146
0.000176
7
Polymers

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LS. AI-Mutaz, A.M. AI-Namlah / Desalination 166 (2004) 287-294

0.000176 m 2K/W based on a constant rate o f

fouling with time. This period o f time determines
the estimated operating period between acid cleanings of the evaporators.
The plant has an average performance ratio of
4.09 kg/kJ (9.5 Ib/1000 Btu) and a concentration
ratio of recycle brine o f 1.344. The seawater TDS
is about 46,500 ppm on average and the maximum
product TDS is 25 ppm. Heat transfer coefficient
in the brine heat is in the range 3594 to 4134 W/m 2K.
Evaporators has a heat transfer coefficient of 2630
to 3925 W/m s K.

References
[1] L. Awerbuch, Nuclear desalination of sea water,
Proc. Symposium, Taejon, Republic of Korea, May
26-30, 1997.
[2] I.S. A1-Mutaz, Energy conservation in seawater
desalination plants, the First Saudi Symposium on
Energy, Utilization and Conservation, King
Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March
4-7, 1990.

[3] I.S.Al-Mutaz, Operation of dual MSF desalination

plants at water/power peak demand, Symposium on
Desalination Processes in Saudi Arabia, College of
Engineering, King Sand University, Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, June 4-6,1994.
[4] I.S. AI-Mutaz and M.A. Soliman, Optimum operation of steam-power cycle in dual purpose MSF
desalination plants, Desalination, 84 (1991) 104.
[5] IAEA-TECDOC-942,Thermodynamic and Economic Evaluation of Co-production Plants for Electricity and Potable Water, Vienna, 1997.
[6] O.A. Hamed, M.A.K. A1-Sofi, G.M. Mustafa, K.
Bamardouf and H. A1Washmi, Overview of design
features and performance characteristics of major
Saline WaterConversionCorporation(SWCC) MSF
plants, WSTA 5th Gulf Water Conference, Doha,
Qatar, March 24-28, 2001.
[7] A.M.A.AI-Mudaiheemand H. Miyamura, Construction and commissioning of AI-Jobail Phase II
desalinationplant, 2nd World Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse, Bermuda, Nov. 17-22, 1985.
[8] M.AAI-Sofi, R.D. Peterson, D.L. Moen, Y. Soejim
and H. Swad, Thermal performance of 10>(5.2
MIGD MSF plants, A1-Jobail Phase II, 2nd World
Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse,
Bermuda, Nov. 17-22, 1985.