Location: Udipi, Karnataka, India
Project: Udipi Thermal Power Plant
Capacity: 16,200 m³/ day
Energy Savings: 8,750,000 kWh/year* (energy savings estimates based on India’s power cost of $0.1/kWh)
The Challenge: Indian Power Plant with Meticulous Water Needs
The Udipi 1300 MW Thermal Power Plant is a coal/gas-based power generating station located in Udipi, near Mangalore, Karnataka, India. It produces power by converting water into steam, which is then used to drive turbines. Vast amounts of the highest quality pure water are needed for the steam generation process.
The Innovation Solution: PowerPlay with Advanced TurboCharger + High Pressure Pump
After weighing the options, contractor Triveni Engineering chose seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination as the most viable option for obtaining the highest quality pure water. While Triveni Engineering had been offering custom made solutions to the Indian desalination industry for more than a decade, they were seeking the latest advances in energy recovery technology to increase plant efficiency. Triveni selected Energy Recovery’s Advanced TurboCharger™ (AT) due to its reliability and optimal efficiency. Triveni also chose to configure the plant with Energy Recovery’s AquaSpire™ centrifugal high-pressure pump. The AquaSpire pump is a single-stage, high-pressure pump ideal for medium-to-large-scale seawater- and brackish-water reverse-osmosis systems.
The AT and the AquaSpire centrifugal pump are designed to complement each other for maximum efficiency and hydraulic flexibility. A flexible solution that simplifies the SWRO system while maintaining its operational reliability, the AT is easy to install and has a compact footprint. This winning configuration is a turnkey solution that requires minimal installation time, operator training, and plant design. With Udipi’s 16,200 m3/day plant capacity, it was of paramount importance to find the most cost-effective and energy-efficient desalination solution.
The Result: Flexibility with Cost Savings
The plant is configured with four centrifugal high-durability AquaSpire pumps and three AT TurboCharger energy recovery devices working together to give flexibility and cost-energy benefits. A total of three trains have been running since May 2010. As a result of using our technologies, the plant went to working at 100% full capacity and year after year, there is 8,750,000 kWh of energy saved – increasing overall profit. More trains will be purchased for the expansion of the plant within the next two years. In fact, the client is so satisfied the setup is being showcased as a demo site for their potential customers.