Posts in "design" tag

Design Aspects of a SWRO Desalination Plant

This is a cross post from the Sydeny Mechanical Chapter as the topic may be of interest to the Water Panel’s membership.

Design of a major seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant poses many challenges to engineers of various disciplines particularly those of process and mechanical backgrounds. These challenges include meeting or exceeding the contracted energy efficiency targets, addressing durability of materials in a seawater environment, ensuring safety of piping and equipment operating at high fluid pressures and design to meet sometime conflicting constructability, operability and maintainability requirements. This presentation will briefly outline the design aspects of pressure driven membranes, energy recovery, material selection for protection against corrosion and piping.

The recently completed Sydney Desalination Plant has provided Dennis Cho and Con Sikallos with valuable experiences and insights arising form their involvement for over three years in the bid, design delivery and commissioning phases. Dennis will review the basis of design of a desalination plant and Con will present some of the mechanical challenges.

Dennis is a senior process engineer at SKM and has completed his PhD at UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology at University of NSW. His work is based on over 10 years of engineering experience, largely in the water and wastewater industry.

Con has 20 years of experience in the water and wastewater industry and currently holds a senior mechanical engineering position at SKM. He has been involved in many engineering projects from detail design through to commissioning including the Sydney Desalination Plant.

Date: 16-06-2011
Starting: Light refreshments at 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start
Finishing: 7.40 to 7.50pm
Dinner Option: With the speaker at 8.00pm, at a nearby restaurant (at cost)
Venue: Engineers Australia Auditorium, Ground Floor, 8 Thomas Street, Chatswood

All contact to: Andrew Lowe would be appreciated, phone no (02) 9777 1111 or [email protected].

Full details: PDF Flyer.

Water Resources Planning and Design Under a Changing Climate

The next Panel presentation is titled “Water Resources Planning and Design Under a Changing Climate” and will be given by Dr Seth Westra, UNSW. It will be given on the 26th October 2010, 5:30 for a 6pm start at the EA Auditorium, Chatswood. The full abstract is available on the flier but as a teaser:

Water supply systems, flood protection works and a range of other climate-sensitive infrastructure traditionally have been designed based on the assumption that the future climate will mirror what has occurred in the past. Although this assumption has been questioned due to the natural fluctuations of climate, such variability usually can be accommodated by using long instrumental records or information from paleo-climate sources. In contrast, human-induced climate change is expected to push a range of hydrological variables well outside the envelope of what has occurred in the past, leading some researchers to proclaim this assumption that underpins so much of hydrological design is now ‘dead’.

Climate Change Flier

Presentation: Blockage of Hydraulic Structures

The next Panel presentation is scheduled for 25th May 5:30 for 6pm and refreshments will be available beforehand. The abstract of the talk is:

This presentation will discuss the ARR Project 11 concerned with blockage. Blockage is an important issue for the design and management of drainage systems, and one that can cause considerable disruption and damage. Blockage can affect bridges and culverts as well as urban stormwater systems. While urban areas are of particular importance, blockage is also a concern in rural regions. Currently available guidelines have some comment but have limited guidance. This project is aimed at improving this situation. The project is being undertaken with the assistance of a committee of experts drawn from different sectors of the industry and different regions of Australia. A workshop in 2009 set the scene and a report was prepared on the issue. The project has continued in 2010 with another workshop and guidelines agreed among the committee. The presentation will describe the process and the conclusions of the project to date.

Full details are available on a PDF Flyer.

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