Seawater Desalination Plant orders 48 pumps plus 27 Dual Work Exchange Energy Recovery (DWEER(TM)) devices

Phil Black - PII Editor 19/12/2013

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When Complete, Plant Projected to Be Largest Desalination Plant in the Western Hemisphere

Flowserve Corporation, a leading provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets, today announced it has received a multi-million dollar order from Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction to supply the pumps and energy recovery system (ERS) for the seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant located near Antofagasta, Chile. This order was booked in the third quarter of 2013.

Minera Escondida is developing the SWRO plant, rated for 216,000 cubic meters/day (57 million gallons/day), to supply fresh water to the copper mine located 3,100 m (10,171 ft) above sea level and 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Antofagasta in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest areas in the world. With an expected completion date during 2017, this SWRO plant, which is an expansion of the existing 40,000 cubic meters/day (10.6 million gallons/day) plant, is projected to become the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, and the largest desalination plant ordered in 2013.

Doosan purchased all the pumps for the plant, 48 in total, along with 27 Dual Work Exchange Energy Recovery (DWEER(TM)) devices from Flowserve. The Flowserve DWEER offers one of the highest efficiencies of all energy recovery systems on the market today, since it minimizes leakage and mixing of the brine. By incorporating this ERS, the plant”s overall energy consumption is reduced substantially.

“We are pleased Doosan continues to work with Flowserve on projects of this importance and magnitude,” said Jim Quain, president, Flowserve Sales Organization. “As a global leader in the growing desalination industry, Flowserve products provide industry-leading efficiency and reliability, both key factors when Doosan selected Flowserve for this important project.”