Thermal Desalination Solutions for Seawater

Cost Effective, Efficient Thermal Desalination Solutions


Refineries, power plants and other industries need high purity water. The thermal desalination process uses energy to evaporate water and subsequently condense it again. When there is waste heat or sufficient electricity available, as is often the case with refineries and power plants, thermal desalination is an efficient and viable solution.

IDE is internationally recognized as a pioneer and leader in the delivery of thermal desalination plants. IDE's low temperature thermal distillation units are capable of producing both drinking and boiler feed water from seawater. They are available in two versions differentiated by the method used for the supply of energy:

• Multi-Effect Distillation (MED), a low-pressure steam process.
• Mechanical Vapour Compression (MVC), a proprietary electrically driven mechanical compressor

Thermal Desalination – Multi-Effect-Distillation (MED) Solutions for Seawater

IDE's MED units are the industry's most reliable, robust and cost-efficient seawater desalination solutions. With capacities ranging from 600 to 25,000 m3/day per unit, the MED units produce a reliable, low-cost stream of high purity water for power plants and industries that can provide low-grade steam as an energy source. IDE customizes its MED solutions for the needs of each customer, including the site-specific characteristics of seawater and steam inputs.

The World's Most Advanced Thermal Desalination Technology

The MED approach utilizes the advanced technologies and know-how developed by IDE to achieve exceptional thermal efficiency and reliability. Its underlying concept is a multi-effect process in which a spray of seawater is repeatedly evaporated and then condensed, with each effect at a lower temperature and pressure. This highly efficient process multiplies the quantity of pure water that can be produced using a given quantity of energy, resulting in a significant reduction in cost.

Key Benefits of IDE's MED Plants

• Safe and reliable continuous operation
• Lower operation and maintenance costs
• Eco-friendly solutions to minimize impact on the environment
• Trusted partnership for solutions built to last

Key Features of IDE's MED Plants

• Fast installation time
• High availability and very high reliability for continuous operation
• Proprietary low temperature process for minimized desalination costs
• Customized for economic, efficient performance over the long term Modular design allows the number of process effects to be optimized for the plant's specific environment and site conditions
• Prevent scaling and fouling with large wetting areas in the heat transfer tubes
• Reliable, non-clogging wetting operations due to large pitch design
• Prevent heavy metal ions from entering the plant with our on-line ion trap
• Eliminate corrosion phenomena through de-aeration of the incoming feed (seawater) within the falling film condenser
• Electrical insulation and protection against galvanic corrosion with use of rubber grommets to seal all heat transfer tubes
• Extended lifecycle due to non-erosive titanium condenser components