THE CHALLENGE
500 kilometres east of Perth, capital of Western Australia, lies the small town of Ravensthorpe. Our client was mining pegmatite ore and processing onsite to produce both spodumene and tantalum.
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Water available onsite was of poor quality and scarce. A number of wells had been drilled and were feeding into an open dam arrangement, resulting in fluctuating salinity and a complex and changing water chemistry.
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In 2010 our client engaged the Advanced Watertek team to design, manufacture, deliver, install and comission a fully bespoke, plug and play, containerised reverse osmosis desalination system.
OUR SOLUTION
Due to the highly unstable and fluctuating salinity levels in the available water source, Advanced Watertek undertook the in-house design and manufacture of a fully containerised seawater-grade
reverse osmosis system.
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Alongside with low energy, high rejection seawater membranes, we supplied a Grundfos APP pump that supplies a fixed flow, regardless of pressure fluctuations.
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The entire system is built into a brand new, 20' high cube seaworthy container. Main elements include membrane filtration, cartridge filtration pre-treatment, multimedia filtration, plus acid dosing pump and antiscalant dosing system.
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Irrespective of sub-par and varying water chemistry, we were able to consistently supply high quality product water suitable for process use.
SPECIFICATIONS
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Feed Flow Rate: Approx. 3.72m3/hr
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Expected Recovery: Approx. 22%
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Expected Product Quality: Less than 2% of feed TDS
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Expected Product Quantity: 20m3/day
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Power Supply: 3 Phase / 380/415V / 50Hz
PROJECT RESULT
Our containerised reverse osmosis system was designed, manufactured and delivered to the client on budget and on time. Commissioning was undertaken on site by Advanced Watertek staff. Full training was given to client staff, along with a full supply of consumables, spares, operation and maintenance manuals.
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To date, our client has prided themselves on operating one of the world's lowest cost spodumene mines. With numerous cost reduction initiatives in place, it made perfect sense to choose a reliable low energy reverse osmosis desalination system.
