In 2015, Bill Gates was recorded drinking water produced from a machine that converts human fecal matter into useful components including clean drinking water. The stunt helped bring attention to the problem of water scarcity and its growing impact in the future. That machine, the Omni Processor, is an ingenious solution but its technology is still in its infancy. Instead, most of us will likely rely on desalinated water, which is seawater that has been processed for human consumption.
Although there are more than 20,000 desalination plants around the world, only about 1% of the world’s population currently relies on desalinated water for their daily needs. But changing weather patterns will continue to cause water scarcity especially in densely populated areas and is predicted to increase the number of people reliant on desalinated water to more than 14%. As we become more dependent on desalinated water, so too will our need for desalination plants with greater placement flexibility.
In this article, we will discuss how you can use a pipeline system to construct a desalination plant beyond coastal regions. Additionally, we will examine how to create a desalination pipeline system and why high-density polyethylene is the material of choice for such an application.
Breaking free from landlocks
One impetus for the Omni Processor is its easy-access “fuel” in the form of human sewage. With human sewage in abundance everywhere humans gather, the converter has proven especially very useful in dry, landlocked regions. A desalination plant, on the other hand, relies on close access to seawater. And most desalination plants function using reverse osmosis, which requires facilities that take up an excess of 20 acres. These factors have likely blocked the creation of many desalination facilities. Fortunately, improvements in material design and pipeline technology has enabled the construction of pipeline systems specially designed to safely transport pumped seawater inland to facilities built in more convenient locations.
The ability to build the desalination plant away from the coast opens up more construction options that can cut costs and improve space usage.
Creating a desalination pipeline system
The first component of a desalination plant is its intake system, which is responsible for transporting seawater to the plant. The intake system comprises three parts: the intake structure located offshore, an intake pump station located at the treatment plant, and the pipeline that connects the two structures. The pipeline system requires special attention as its integrity is essential for preventing leaks that could increase operational costs and harm the local ecology. At the same time, the pipe must be built out of the way to prevent obstruction of roads and buildings. For these reasons, the majority of the pipeline of the intake system should be buried.
For pipe to be buried, it must be made with material that is strong enough to endure the various forces that it will experience during installation and operation. For instance, a trenchless technique like horizontal directional drilling (HDD) can help bypass surface obstructions while also avoiding existing underground pipework. However, HDD it works best when using a pipe that is both flexible and durable enough to withstand the various loads and other variables present during the pullback cycle of the installation.
Fortunately, engineers have access to larger, stronger, more flexible pipe that allow them to design ambitious projects using modern installation techniques. The latest class of pipe to enter the market is known as XXL Pipe.
Creating a desalination pipeline system
Pipes made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) complement the HDD method extremely well thanks to its high strength, flexibility, superior joint integrity, low weight, and long-term service life, which represents improved cost-effectiveness over many competing materials. These large pipes are also visually striking, able to be manufactured with an outer diameter (OD) of 128 in—large enough for a person to stand inside. XXL pipes are not only well-suited for the high-volume flow necessary for the intake system of a desalination plant, but also are strong and flexible enough to be installed using the HDD method.
Additionally, HDPE pipes have high corrosion resistance and are chemically stable—making it more than capable of transporting the high salinity water without degradation. AGRU takes its XXL pipes further by utilizing a PE100-RC resin during the manufacturing process. The modified resin offers a number of improvements, the most significant being increased resistance to slow crack growth that allows the pipe to support more intensive installation methods. The stronger resin also allows AGRU to custom manufacture XXL pipes at sizes up to OD 137 in.
Metropolitans looking to future-proof their city by diversifying their water sources should consider strengths of a desalination plant especially when combined with a modern pipeline system made with XXL pipe. XXL pipe is only available in North America from AGRU America, a leading supplier of geosynthetic pipes and fittings. Reach out to an AGRU representative today to learn more about AGRU XXL pipe and PE100-RC as well as receive drop-in specifications that you could incorporate in your own designs.
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