February-March 2015 | Desalination & Water Reuse | 23 |

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_________Dr Trevor Loveday editor, D&WR

Editor’s note: membrane-based desalination has been the lead technology set in recent years but Thermal Purification Technologies’ thermal process could tick boxes for sustainability and cost with a system that uses low-quality heat to produce high purity water. So with a big hitter in Metito as its strategic partner with even bigger backers including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, could established technologies have a challenger in low-temperature distillation?

WHEN A small company championing a possibly disruptive technology teams up with technical and financial muscle there is the promise of a compelling tale. So when, in the autumn of 2014, after less than one year in business, Switzerland-based Thermal Purification Technologies (TPTec) struck up a strategic partnership with the rapidly growing water technology company Metito the prospects for TPTec’s low-temperature distillation technology (LTDis) took an interesting turn.

STaTegic parTner“The major focus for us has been to find a strategic partner and we have now found that with Metito which has the resources and the presence in the core markets that we need to expand,’ says TPTec’s chief executive officer, Espen Mansfeldt.

TPTec acquired the patents for LTDis from another Swiss company, Watersolutions. LTDis deploys a cascade distillation process similar to that used in multi effect distillation (MED) using low-grade, typically waste heat from various sources including industrial processes, power generation and solar thermal. An important advantage is that LTDis uses direct evaporation/condensation and there are no tube bundles or membranes in the plant. It can, according to TPTec, tolerate salinity levels as high as 330,000 mg/l (up to and into precipitation of sodium chloride) and pollution with hydrocarbons.

Mansfeldt came to TPTec from Watersolutions where he was co-owner and chief after a career in the food and drink industry including deputy division president at Coca-Cola. On leaving Watersolutions in 2013 he worked as a consultant before joining TPTec in late 2014 with commercializing its offering as his brief: “I always thought the technology sounded very promising and we have a great team where I can bring

some of the marketing and sales skills to complement their very good technical skills,” says Mansfeldt. financiaL muScLe So was financial muscle all that TPTec needed to push forward? “The strength of working with Metito is that they have the engineering resources and the presence in many markets. And they have the experience of running complicated and advanced water projects so all of that was of great value to us. So this is more important than a pure financial investment,” he says.

“We needed the resources to develop it and to be able to provide potential clients with very detailed offers,” he adds.

Indeed, Metito said on announcing its undisclosed “significant investment” in TPTec that it had: “the scale, expertise and financial backing to fully integrate this innovative technology, taking it to the next level of its evolution to become a mainstream solution.” And to emphasise this it pointed to its “compelling shareholder base” which includes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Gulf Capital and the International Finance Corporation.

many aDvanTageSAccording to Metito’s group business development director, Bassem Halabi, TPTec’s LTDis is the first efficiently operating low-temperature distillation system: “There are so many advantages and differences between this current LTDis and other LTDs that may or may not be on the market,” he says.

Chief among the differences, Halabi says, is the greater efficiency potential. TPTec’s LTDis system has a “basic level of about 40% but it can achieve 80% efficiency in its conversion of saline feedwater to potable water.

He says the process operates with very small

Is low temperature the next hot prospect?

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| 24 | Desalination & Water Reuse | February-March 2015

temperature differentials between the heat source and the re-cooling source. For a plant overall a typical differential would be 10-20 K but for each stage a 2 K temperature differential is adequate. Much of the process’ performance potential was established during 2012-13 at a 500 m³/d pilot plant at El Gouna, Egypt.

Halabi says the TPTec LTDis can operate at “very, very high brine concentrations” of nearly five times the 70,000 mg/l maximum achievable using established technologies. He goes on to say the absence of evaporation bundles in MED eliminates scaling and corrosion and the need for chemicals to address those issues.

He estimates that LTDis requires “less than one 10th of the chemicals” used in conventional thermal desalination and in some cases there are no chemicals used at all other than in disinfection.

The capacity to drive LTDis using only low-grade heat gives the technology huge economic and environmental advantages compared to thermal and membrane desalination processes says Halabi. He says for every 1 kWh used in LTDis reverse osmosis requires 3-3.5 kWh while MED consumes 12 kWh and multiple stage flash desalination requires 14 kWh.

SCaLabiLiTY aNd pOTENTiaLHalabi says the “most feasible size” for an LTDis unit to operate from waste heat is about 500-1,500 m³/d but he highlights the technology’s scalability: “At the moment we could produce modules at 2,000 m³/d. We haven’t ventured there yet but we will look at larger sizes if and when they come along. MED units were always thought of as 500 m³/d, maybe 1,000 m³/d and now they go up to 50,000 or even 75,000 m³/d. It will take time but things can develop,” he says.

Mansfeldt emphasizes further the capacity to ramp up the size of a TPTec LTDis facility: “Scaling up would not be a challenge for the technology itself. At this stage we are looking at projects all the way up to 10,000 m³/d so it is a broad range. Following that there would probably be a phase where we look at even larger projects, he says.

He summarizes its potential: “At the end of the day the strength of the system is that we can use heat very efficiently. We can pick up low-value or no-value waste heat sources and perhaps others that are not currently being used. And in some instances we are seeing that processes have to cool water before it's expelled so that is something we could use quite easily.”

Metito has far-reaching ambitions for

the technology (see table 1). It claims LTDis promises to “quickly become the leading thermal solution, in time, swapping places with the current reverse osmosis and thermal desalination technologies.”

According to Halabi: "LTDis has the potential to redefine the practice of thermal desalination, as it not only offers advanced benefits over existing thermal and membrane technologies, but it also provides significant energy and cost savings compared with other technologies."

Does the company have a timetable in mind for LTDis’ rise to the top? Halabi is circumspect, choosing to focus on immediate prospects: “We are now at the stage where we are commercializing the process we are going out to the various industries,” Halabi says.

“We expect to see market penetration in the first half of 2015 and we are basically about to install our first plant in the first quarter of 2015.”

MarkETS aNd appLiCaTiONSMetito’s arrangement with TPTec gives it the licence for the African and Asian markets. With that geographic focus Metito’s sector targets are on industries where waste heat is a feature and the oil and gas sectors Halabi explains.

‘We are already in discussions with several entities that are looking for solutions to water desalination problems in wastewater. Basically in oil and gas, petrochemicals and other process industries and power there is a wide scope for this application. So these are prime targets,” he says.

Halabi highlights also uses for LTDis to improve the efficiency of thermal desalination plants and in membrane plants where there is a waste heat source. At the same time TPTec is looking to deploy an extension of the LTDis concept that can be applied to high-salinity waste – such as waste from existing desalination plants – to produce zero liquid discharge.

Mansfeldt reinforces industrial reuse as the early chief target: “The focus for us is on industry where there is a need for clean water so there are a number of industrial situations where we can create value for the customer. Sometimes it's in combination with high-cost or problematic-to-dispose-of polluted water and we can assist in that. In one or two projects it's zero liquid discharge that we are involved in and in others even salt production because the client uses salt for other purposes in its industry.”

He goes on to list other opportunities for LTDis deployment including the

power sector “from diesel generators right up to modern power plants” along with geothermal and solar heat as well as district cooling.

LTDis has great potential as a means to up the recovery of an existing desalination plant says Mansfeldt. “If you take places like the Gulf, where land along the coast is scarce or expensive, and there may be environmental limitations on additional permissions, LTDis technology can be used to extend the capacity of an existing plant in a very cost effective way. That can be very interesting in places where land and space is limited,” he says.

He says this potential is particularly strong in inland desalination where the feedwater is pumped from deep down and often at a significant distance from the plant itself. In such instances some 3-4 kWh of electricity is used just to deliver the feedwater so extracting more from it becomes an attractive proposition.

This is made still more attractive in instances where the water comes out from very deep wells at a temperature of 65-70°C. Not only can it be a heat source for LTDis but also LTDis could cool the water before membrane desalination is used.

For a modest investment Mansfeldt says LTDis could improve the recovery from an inland desalination plant by some 20%.

Halabi adds another detail. An

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| 24 | Desalination & Water Reuse | February-March 2015

temperature differentials between the heat source and the re-cooling source. For a plant overall a typical differential would be 10-20 K but for each stage a 2 K temperature differential is adequate. Much of the process’ performance potential was established during 2012-13 at a 500 m³/d pilot plant at El Gouna, Egypt.

Halabi says the TPTec LTDis can operate at “very, very high brine concentrations” of nearly five times the 70,000 mg/l maximum achievable using established technologies. He goes on to say the absence of evaporation bundles in MED eliminates scaling and corrosion and the need for chemicals to address those issues.

He estimates that LTDis requires “less than one 10th of the chemicals” used in conventional thermal desalination and in some cases there are no chemicals used at all other than in disinfection.

The capacity to drive LTDis using only low-grade heat gives the technology huge economic and environmental advantages compared to thermal and membrane desalination processes says Halabi. He says for every 1 kWh used in LTDis reverse osmosis requires 3-3.5 kWh while MED consumes 12 kWh and multiple stage flash desalination requires 14 kWh.

SCaLabiLiTY aNd pOTENTiaLHalabi says the “most feasible size” for an LTDis unit to operate from waste heat is about 500-1,500 m³/d but he highlights the technology’s scalability: “At the moment we could produce modules at 2,000 m³/d. We haven’t ventured there yet but we will look at larger sizes if and when they come along. MED units were always thought of as 500 m³/d, maybe 1,000 m³/d and now they go up to 50,000 or even 75,000 m³/d. It will take time but things can develop,” he says.

Mansfeldt emphasizes further the capacity to ramp up the size of a TPTec LTDis facility: “Scaling up would not be a challenge for the technology itself. At this stage we are looking at projects all the way up to 10,000 m³/d so it is a broad range. Following that there would probably be a phase where we look at even larger projects, he says.

He summarizes its potential: “At the end of the day the strength of the system is that we can use heat very efficiently. We can pick up low-value or no-value waste heat sources and perhaps others that are not currently being used. And in some instances we are seeing that processes have to cool water before it's expelled so that is something we could use quite easily.”

Metito has far-reaching ambitions for

the technology (see table 1). It claims LTDis promises to “quickly become the leading thermal solution, in time, swapping places with the current reverse osmosis and thermal desalination technologies.”

According to Halabi: "LTDis has the potential to redefine the practice of thermal desalination, as it not only offers advanced benefits over existing thermal and membrane technologies, but it also provides significant energy and cost savings compared with other technologies."

Does the company have a timetable in mind for LTDis’ rise to the top? Halabi is circumspect, choosing to focus on immediate prospects: “We are now at the stage where we are commercializing the process we are going out to the various industries,” Halabi says.

“We expect to see market penetration in the first half of 2015 and we are basically about to install our first plant in the first quarter of 2015.”

MarkETS aNd appLiCaTiONSMetito’s arrangement with TPTec gives it the licence for the African and Asian markets. With that geographic focus Metito’s sector targets are on industries where waste heat is a feature and the oil and gas sectors Halabi explains.

‘We are already in discussions with several entities that are looking for solutions to water desalination problems in wastewater. Basically in oil and gas, petrochemicals and other process industries and power there is a wide scope for this application. So these are prime targets,” he says.

Halabi highlights also uses for LTDis to improve the efficiency of thermal desalination plants and in membrane plants where there is a waste heat source. At the same time TPTec is looking to deploy an extension of the LTDis concept that can be applied to high-salinity waste – such as waste from existing desalination plants – to produce zero liquid discharge.

Mansfeldt reinforces industrial reuse as the early chief target: “The focus for us is on industry where there is a need for clean water so there are a number of industrial situations where we can create value for the customer. Sometimes it's in combination with high-cost or problematic-to-dispose-of polluted water and we can assist in that. In one or two projects it's zero liquid discharge that we are involved in and in others even salt production because the client uses salt for other purposes in its industry.”

He goes on to list other opportunities for LTDis deployment including the

power sector “from diesel generators right up to modern power plants” along with geothermal and solar heat as well as district cooling.

LTDis has great potential as a means to up the recovery of an existing desalination plant says Mansfeldt. “If you take places like the Gulf, where land along the coast is scarce or expensive, and there may be environmental limitations on additional permissions, LTDis technology can be used to extend the capacity of an existing plant in a very cost effective way. That can be very interesting in places where land and space is limited,” he says.

He says this potential is particularly strong in inland desalination where the feedwater is pumped from deep down and often at a significant distance from the plant itself. In such instances some 3-4 kWh of electricity is used just to deliver the feedwater so extracting more from it becomes an attractive proposition.

This is made still more attractive in instances where the water comes out from very deep wells at a temperature of 65-70°C. Not only can it be a heat source for LTDis but also LTDis could cool the water before membrane desalination is used.

For a modest investment Mansfeldt says LTDis could improve the recovery from an inland desalination plant by some 20%.

Halabi adds another detail. An

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February-March 2015 | Desalination & Water Reuse | 25 |

evaporation pond of 1,000,000 m² can be reduced to roughly 500 m², not only to reduce the plant’s impact on the environment but also to all but eliminate a major breeding ground for mosquitoes, as the brine in the smaller pond will be highly concentrated and hostile to mosquito larvae.

“We know two or three plants operating under these conditions and we are fairly sure that we can help them in increasing their capacity and reducing the discharge without drawing more water from the wells and without adding to the mosquito situation. We will be discussing this with the local water authority in Saudi,” Halabi says.

Water injection for the recovery of oil is another target area. The water comes out mixed with oil and sometimes at a very high salinity. This presents a real

opportunity for desalination and reuse by LTDis in conditions that would test other technologies, says Halabi. For the same reasons he sees similar openings in the unconventional oil and gas sectors such as shale extraction.

With the strong oil and gas opportunities does he see the Middle East as a likely early mover territory? “Yes. We are still promoting the process in Saudi but think of places like Qatar, which has some of the strangest regulations when it comes to discharge. It doesn't even allow the discharge of brine in the sea. So Qatar is a good opportunity. Elsewhere we have requests for proposals from China.”

Africa however is not high in immediate promise he says owing to the scarcity there of target industries: “We are looking at

North Africa where we have oil and gas – probably Algeria, Libya and Egypt,” says Halabi.

Coupling LTDis with solar has strong potential. “Definitely LTDis can be combined with solar heat. It can even work on the differential temperatures in solar ponds for a heat source. We have been approached by companies that produce solar panels and solar collectors and we are looking at possibilities.”

NEw dEaLsMeanwhile TPTec is looking to forge other strategic deals to add to the exclusive arrangement with Metito in Africa and Asia says Mansfeldt.

“We have a number of projects that cover that and it is our priority to get further references up and running in the Metito territory. At the same time we are looking to set up strategic links with strong industry partners in other parts of the world as well,” he says.

“However we take these things one step at a time. We need to get projects going but yes we do focus on [other partnerships] as well,” he adds. While TPTec is in discussions with other potential partners, those talks are “at too early a stage to comment on.”

He adds: “The focus [with Metito] is in Africa and Asia but should we find an opportunity that both parties find interesting I’m sure we’d find a way to work together in other places.”

Meanwhile Mansfeldt says there are projects in prospect: “We are working on five to ten concrete projects that we are offering, or have offered already and hopefully we'll soon see some results from that.”

And while Metito has added its financial shoulder to TPTec’s push into the market so Metito has itself been given a potentially game changing injection.

Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have taken a further 38.4% stake in Metito while the Japan Bank for International Cooperation has provided up to US$ 92 million to fund growth opportunities.

This coalescence of a substantive boost in financial and other resources has set up the coming year as one full of potential for TPTec’s bid to usurp established desalination technologies. Halabi sums it up: “So far there has not been I think deep enough understanding to improve the efficiency and bring LTDis up to the level to compete with alternative technologies. With TPTec now I think we are up to that level.” l

TECHNOLOGY

Start of a dynasty? A prototype LTDis plant at El Gouna, Egypt has shown

early promise for the technology.

Sources: (1) Membrane seawater desalination: overview and recent trends (Nikolay Voutchkov, 2010). (2 Calculations, based on operations at El Gouna plant, Egypt. (3) GP Bullhound, sector update, July 2012, page 11.

Table 1. LTDis today matches forecasts for improvement in the performance of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO)