Title: Techno-economic feasibility study of providing variable frequency drive for high pressure pump, SWRO plant at NDDP, Kalpakkam

Authors: R. Nagaraj, V. Murugan, Ashok Y. Dangore, K.L. Thalor, S. Prabakar, V.K. Srivastava, P.K. Tewari

Addresses: NDDP, BARC, Kalpakkam, India. ' NDDP, BARC, Kalpakkam, India. ' NDDP, BARC, Kalpakkam, India. ' Desalination Division, BARC, Bombay, India. ' Desalination Division, BARC, Bombay, India. ' Desalination Division, BARC, Bombay, India. ' Desalination Division, BARC, Bombay, India

Abstract: The cost of product water is a key factor in determination of acceptability of any desalination system and plant. In case of Sea Water Reverse Osmosis plants, most of the energy consumed is in the form of electricity. The High Pressure Pump (HPP) is the single major energy consuming equipment with a share of above 75%. Hence reduction in energy consumed by HPP will have a substantial effect on the overall energy consumption. The high starting torque requirement of high pressure pump results in increased acceleration time of the motor which subsequently increases the strain on the upstream electrical system from motor feeder to transformer. Provision of a Variable Frequency Drive can be a solution for both the above problems. This paper studies the techno-economic feasibility of providing variable frequency drive for HPP motor at NDDP, Kalpakkam.

Keywords: SWRO; seawater reverse osmosis; HPP; high pressure pumps; variable speed drives; soft starters; energy conservation; seawater desalination; nuclear desalination demonstration project; variable frequency drives.

DOI: 10.1504/IJND.2010.035174

International Journal of Nuclear Desalination, 2010 Vol.4 No.2, pp.162 - 173

Published online: 10 Sep 2010 *

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