DOW Technology Helps The Largest Desalination Plant In Spain Operating With Pressurized Ultrafiltration As Pretreatment Deliver Freshwater For Municipal Use

Dow Water & Process Solutions (DW&PS) is providing ultrafiltration technology to the largest municipal desalination plant in Spain, operating with pressurized ultrafiltration as a pretreatment, to help meet the growing demand for potable water in the Canary Islands. The desalination plant, Maspalomas I, located in Gran Canaria, Spain and designed and furnished by Elmasa Tecnología del Agua S.A., is equipped with DOW IntegraPac Ultrafiltration IP-77 skids and DOW FIMTEC Reverse Osmosis membranes.  The combined Dow ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis system effectively helps produce clean, potable water for the main touristic areas of the island.

Bordered by seawater on all sides and experiencing low levels of annual rainfall, freshwater is a scarce resource on the island of Gran Canaria.  In order to meet the needs of local and tourist populations, the historically dry island has established desalination plants to support the production of potable water.  With over 12 million visitors per year, the island’s local water demand has steadily risen, requiring Maspalomas I to extend its water processing capacity. After raising the water capacity, the plant’s seawater intake system did not have the capability to provide the required feedwater flow to accommodate for the plant’s expansion; therefore, a new open intake had to be constructed.

A two-stage pressurized filtration system was studied as conventional pretreatment for the new open intake. Conventional sand filters were considered; however, they did not meet footprint constraints, showed lower recovery and robustness for variable feeds, and resulted in higher civil works costs associated with construction and installation. With that said, the DOW IntegraPac Ultrafiltration solution, capable of producing 32,000 cubic meters per day (m3/d) was ultimately chosen for the plant, facilitating higher productivity and a lower lifecycle cost.

IntegraPac Ultrafiltration technology notably streamlines design and installation, resulting in lower skid costs, reduced engineering design costs, easy assembly, a smaller footprint, and shortened lead times.  The system’s easy assembly and installation was a critical component for Maspalomas I in order to reduce local civil works costs.  Dow ultrafiltration technology is based on a technically advanced PVDF hollow fiber with uniform pore size that maintains high performance under a wide range of feed water conditions.  Furthermore, its unique outside-in fiber technology facilitates higher solids loading, higher flow area, and easy cleaning. 

“We are thrilled to provide the industry with a solution that effectively and efficiently helps produce high-quality potable water, particularly in this water stressed region of the world,” said Kai-Uwe Hoehn, global large project leader, Dow Water & Process Solutions. “Dow’s proven ultrafiltration technology not only helps boost plant productivity and lower costs, but provides another example of our commitment to solving global water quantity challenges.”

About Dow Water & Process Solutions
The global leader in sustainable separation and purification technology, Dow Water & Process Solutions is making a clear impact in the world. We’re helping to make water safer and more accessible, food taste better, pharmaceuticals more effective and industries more efficient and spearheading the development of sustainable technologies that integrate water and energy requirements. Dow Water & Process Solutions offers a broad portfolio of ion exchange resins, reverse osmosis membranes, ultrafiltration membranes, fine particle filters and electrodeionization products, with strong positions in a number of major application areas, including industrial and municipal water, industrial processes, pharmaceuticals, power, residential water and waste and water reuse. More information about Dow Water & Process Solutions can be found at www.dowwaterandprocess.com.

About Dow
Dow combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2012, Dow had annual sales of approximately $57B and employed approximately 54,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. For more information, visit www.dow.com.