Stainless Steel for

High Pressure Piping

in SWRO Plants

The Malta
Experience

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Introduction

Summary

Malta, an archipelago of three

islands situated 50 miles south of
Sicily in the middle of the clear blue
Mediterranean Sea, is blessed with
an abundance of sunshine. These
idyllic conditions are, however,
marred by the sparse annual rainfall
of only 250 to 450 mm. The Islands,
whose dense population now
numbers about 350,000, have until
recently been perpetually plagued
with problems of obtaining fresh
water. Over the years, special efforts
have been required to cope with this
adverse situation.

Service experience from 27 seawater

reverse osmosis (SWRO) plants
confirms that there is an evident risk
of corrosion if wrong steel grade is
used for the high pressure piping.
Neither 316L nor 317L possesses
sufficient corrosion resistance. Not
even highly alloyed grades like 2205
and 904L show reliable service
performance. However, no corrosion
has been reported for 254 SMO,
which has been used in 16 full
strength SWRO plants and several
plants using high salinity brackish
water.

To be continued on page 2.

To be continued on page 7.

3-1995

acom

Desalination of
Seawater by
Reverse Osmosis

AVESTA SHEFFIELD
CORROSION MANAGEMENT
AND APPLICATION
ENGINEERING

Pembroke R.O. Plant, Malta

acom No. 3-95

Desalination of Seawater by Reverse Osmosis

The Malta Experience

by
Michael F. Lamendola and Arthur Tua, Polymetncs Seawater Systems, Inc., Malta

Introduction
Malta, an archipelago of three
islands situated 50 miles south of
Sicily in the middle of the clear blue
Mediterranean Sea, is blessed with
an abundance of sunshine. These
idyllic conditions are, however,
marred by the sparse annual rainfall
of only 250 to 450 mm. The Islands,
whose dense population now
numbers about 350,000, have until
recently been perpetually plagued
with problems of obtaining fresh
water. Over the years, special efforts
have been required to cope with this
adverse situation.

Efforts Over the Years

Ancient temples predating Christ by a
few thousand years were built with
cisterns, so that to this day, rainwater
can be collected and stored.
To meet demads of the new city of
Valletta in 1610, the Knights of St.
John of Jerusalem started work on an
aqueduct to transport water for over
15 km by gravity from Rabat. The
water was collected by subterranean
conduits from several natural springs
and galleries cut into limited fresh
water aquifer.
Since water was such a scarce and
difficult resource, the Knights made it
a requirement by law, that each
house and building have its own
cistern.
Towards the end of the nineteenth
century, as the demand for fresh
water increased, bore holes and
subterranean collection galleries
were cut, in order to exploit the mean
sea level aquifer1). During the same
period sizable covered reservoirs
were built in strategic locations. These
were further developed in the early

) A fresh water lens or body lying over a layer

of salt (sea) water.

post World War II years, and

covered storage now exceeds
3
450,000 m .

Desalination Makes an Early

Appearance
Desalination made an early appearance in Malta. In 1881 a thermal
distillation plant installed by the
government was desalting sea water
for distribution to the local population. Further thermal desalination in
the form of multistage flash (MSF)
evaporators followed more recently
between 1966 and 1969.

12 Years of Reverse Osmosis

Desalination
As the 1980s began, Malta's water
needs became more critical. The
Island evolved from a military base
under British rule to an independent

country with a growing industry and

tourist trade.
It was at this point that the Malta
Government made its first investment
in Reverse Osmosis (RO) Desalination.
In 1983, after a construction period of
only 11 months, the 20/000 m 3/day
Ghar Lapsi2) Seawater RO facility
became operational. This was soon
followed by a second 4500 m 3/day
highly brackish RO facility in Marsa.
(See Figure 1.)
The high reliability (i.e., on-line
factors >96%) and the relatively low
cost of water from these plants, led
the Malta Government to expand
these plants and to purchase another
three seawater RO facilities. All of the
Malta RO plants have been installed,
operated and maintained by
Polymetncs.
2

) For many years, this facility was the largest

SWRO plant in the world.

Figure 1.
History of RO desalination in Malta. Except for Marsa all plants desalt seawater.

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Plant Description
The Malta SWRO systems utilize
boreholes as the raw water intake
system. Acid (H2SO4l and micron
filtration pre-treat the seawater, prior
to its arrival to the high pressure
pumping system and membranes.
The product is post-treated by
decarbonation, lime addition and
chlorination. Figure 2 is a simplified
flow diagram for a typical plant.

RO Plant Features
Reliability through simplicity and
automation, low energy requirements
and a stable supply of seawater
provided from wells, have been the
salient design features of all five
facilities.

Key Design Features

Reduced pre-treatment requirements
by taking advantage of the local
geology and drawing seawater
through boreholes. Pre-treatment
consists only of acid injection and
micron filtration
Each plant is sub-divided into a
number of independent RO systems,
referred to as trains
Single pass operation, utilizing
Permasep B10, aramid, hollow fiber
membranes
Energy recovery turbines reduce
power consumption by 40%. Except
for the last phase of the Pembroke
plant, KSB Guinard integrated
turbo-pumps are used
Simplified hydraulic controls, such
that the only operating adjustments
are one valve per train
An advanced control and
monitoring system that enables one
person in a central control room to
operate the entire plant
Use of corrosion free plastic material for low pressure (<10 bar)
piping
Use of GRP cartridge filter vessels 3)
Use of corrosion resistant 6% Mo
SSTL (Avesta Sheffield SMO 254 UNS S31254) and epoxy coated
(Scotch Kotea fusion bonded
epoxy by 3M) carbon steel for high
pressure piping (up to 85 bar)
3

) On the older Ghar Lapsi and Tigne plants,

rubber lined steel is used.

Figure 2.
Typical Process Flow for a Seawater Plant.

Pembroke Control Room

Corrosion
Piping Materials
As extensions or newer plants were
built, enhancements were added to
the facilities, several of which were
also retro-fitted to existing plants.
One of the most notable of these
changes was the material used for
the high pressure manifolds and
permeator connections. The Ghar
Lapsi and Tigne plants originally
utilized 316L SSTL (UNS S31603)
which experienced severe pitting and
crevice corrosion in the high chloride
environments encountered in seawater desalination. A service life of
3

less than 2 years was not uncommon.

An attempt was made to reduce this
corrosion by changing the construction methods and altering the geometry, in particular the removal of 'O'
ring grooves and seals. Although we
did see some improvements, this did
not produce satisfactory results.
After switching to a 6% Mo SSTL
such as UNS S31254, no pitting or
crevice corrosion has been observed
in over 5 years of service. The results
obtained with 6% Mo Stainless steel
have also allowed us to revert to
using 'O' rings which provide better
seals.

acom No. 3-95

Operations
On-line Factors
Polymetrics is obliged by its Operation and Maintenance contract with
the Client, The Water Services
Corporation (WSC), to maintain
minimum levels of production and to
maintain minimum plant on-line levels.
Failure to meet these obligations
would result in large penalties. These
obligations have already been met.
Table 1 outlines the on-line performance for all the plants for the
last three years.

SDI
Cirkewwa R.O. Plant

General
The ambient environment in a SWRO
plant is relatively corrosive. On the
Lapsi plant structural steel works and
other non plastic or non stainless steel
components deteriorated very rapidly, resulting in a shoddy appearance
and a need for regular maintenance.
This led to an increased use of nonmetallic components, the use of SSTL
for fasteners and the hot dip galvanizing of all structural steel work.
Particular examples of these
changes include the exclusive use
of plastic valves for low pressure
applications (as opposed to lined
steel valves) and the use of GRP
cartridge filter vessels.

Membranes
All of the Malta Plants make exclusive
use of DuPont "Permasep" B10
permeators. Initially at the Ghar Lapsi
several problems were experienced
particularly with regard to Salt
Passage. This was attributed to
a) particular permeators which were
defective and replaced under
warranty and b) rapid loss of Pt-B4).
The latter problem took some time to
resolve and after considerable effort
by both Polymetrics and Permasep a
solution was found. This consisted in
lowering the pH. It is interesting to
note that the pH required to maintain
a stable or controllable Salt Passage
4

) Tannic Acid which is used to enhance

membrane rejection.

is site dependent and is normally

determined experimentally. It is also
interesting to note that no specific
cause has been identified for this
rapid loss of Pt-B.
Analysis of the flow performance
of the Malta Plants shows that the
guarantees by the membrane manufacturer have always been met.

Pumps and Energy

Recovery Turbine
As part of the 27,600 m 3/day extension of the Pembroke RO plant, multistage split case pumps and energy
5
recovery turbines ), manufactured by
Byron Jackson, were selected for high
pressure service. For all RO units on
Malta, commissioned prior to the
Pembroke extension, integrated turbopumps (TPMDX), manufactured by
KSB Guinard were installed and have
given exceptional service, particularly
on the Lapsi plant, where the total
down time, due to pumps, was less
than 2000 train hours 6) in over 12
years of operation.
The change from integrated turbopumps to multi-stage split case pumps
and energy recovery turbines has
resulted in an energy reduction of
0.28 kWh/m 3 of product, and a
reduction in the noise level due to
lower operating speed.
5
6

) Francis turbinea pump running in reverse.

) The Lapsi Plant has a total of twelve trains,
each with a nominal capacity of 2000
m3/day.

One of the most Important parameters for meeting contractual

obligations and obtaining high
on-line factors is the SDI of the
feedwater. Through the use of
properly constructed and maintained
Seawater boreholes, we have a
continuous supply of low (<3.0)
feedwater.
We have found that as boreholes
are used and age, the SDI improves.
On the older Lapsi plant the SDI of
the raw feed is in the range of 0.6 to
1.3 and the cartridge filters may last
as long as 6 months before they
require replacement.

Conclusion
Malta is a fine example of successful
RO desalination, where over 60% of
the islands' water needs are being
met by this technology. This success
can be attributed to two main factors:
the simplicity of the process, particularly the use of boreholes as a seawater intake system;
and the use of a qualified and
experienced operations and
maintenance contractor from the
private sector.
The government of Malta, by using
Reverse Osmosis and the Mediterranean Sea as a source (reservoir), can
now be assured of an adequate and
reliable supply of fresh water. As of
the time of this writing the available
fresh water supply actually exceeds
demand.

acom No. 3-95

Table 1.
On-line numbers for the last 3 years.
Down Time
Caused by
Polymetrics

Down Time
Requested by
WSC*

Down Time
due to Lack of
Power

Overall
On-line
Time

Polymetrics
On-line
Time**

1992
Lapsi
Tigne
Cirkewwa
Pembroke

1.87%
2.31%
2.01%
3.94%

0.28%
0.49%
2.68%
0.85%

1.73%
4.21%
1.22%
0.68%

96.11%
95.79%
94.09%
94.54%

98.09%
97.58%
97.91%
96.00%

1993
Lapsi
Tigne
Cirkewwa
Pembroke

1.46%
1.23%
1.39%
1.60%

0.56%
1.44%
2.26%
1.35%

1.98%
3.32%
2.17%
0.91%

96.65%
97.23%
95.15%
96.78%

98.50%
98.71%
98.55%
98.36%

1994
Lapsi
Tigne
Cirkewwa
Pembroke

1.25%
0.92%
1.03%
1.04%

1.63%
2.16%
2.39%
6.86%

2.99%
0.29%
2.21%
0.37%

94.12%
96.63%
94.37%
91.74%

98.69%
99.06%
98.92%
98.88%

* WSCWater Service Corporation.

** Calculation based on system availability i.e. the denominator excludes down time by others.

References
Andrews W.T. and R.A. Bergman: The Malta
Seawater RO Facilities, First Congress on
Desalination and Water Re-use, Florence Italy,
May 1983.
Andrews W.T: The Malta Seawater RO
FacilitiesUpdate on the first two years of
Operations, Second Congress on Desalination
and Water Re-use, Bermuda, Nov 1985
Winning the War for Water, DuPont Magazine
Vol 82 No 6, Nov/Dec 1988
Schembri R.: Reverse Osmosis Water Costs in
Malta, Workshop On Production Cost of
Water, May 1988

This paper was originally published in

DESALINATION & WATER REUSE,
Vol. 5/1, p. 18-22. See also 'A Note
from the Editor' on page 6.

Ghar Lapsi R.O. Plant

acom No. 3-95

A Note from the Editor of

DESALINATION & WATER REUSE
The Malta desalting experience is an
outstanding example of current
desalination technology. This article
not only provides data on reverse
osmosis unit design and experience
but also provides a valuable insight
as to the benefits of seawater supply
via boreholes when the site geology
permits.
In keeping with D&WR editorial
policy of seeking desalting water cost
data, it seemed fitting to supplement
the information in this article with
some water cost data from one of the
references, as presented at the
Bahrain Workshop on Production
Cost of Water, May 1988 by Mr R.
Schembri of the Malta government.
The cost data was later conformed to
the format endorsed by IDA, and
presented in a paper published in
"Desalination 81" (1991) entitled
"Total Water Costs on a Standard
Basis for Three Large, Operating
SWRO Plants". The original cost data
(1988) has been adjusted to reflect
the outstanding on-line performance
for this plant as shown in this article,
97.23%, and an excerpt is shown to
the right:

Plant Capacity
Total Direct & Indirect Costs
Annual Fixed Charge Rate
Annaul Costs
Operating & Maintenance
Fixed Charge
Electric Energy @ $0.10/kWh
Chemicals
Membrane Replacement
Total Annual Cost
Total Water Cost

$/m3
$/1000 US Gal

15.000m3/day (4MGD)
$14,458,000
0.1272

$979,000
1,838,000
3,164,000
40,000
In Fixed Charge
$6,021,000
$1.13
$4.28