Case Study: Hinduja Power

The Facility

Hinduja National Power Corporation Ltd. (HNPCL) constructed a 1040 MW coal fired power plant at Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. The power generated from the plant is intended to supply to Andhra Pradesh, as well as to other states through interstate transmission system.

Project Overview

HNPCL appointed Mott MacDonald (MM) as the owner’s engineer for this project. The EPC contract for the power plant facilities was awarded to Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for two nos. 520 MW units and seawater intake and outfall system was awarded to various contractors.

QUA supplied Q-SEP Ultrafiltration (UF) membranes as pretreatment to a sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) system. The Q-SEP ultrafiltration membranes were supplied in December 2013, and plant was commissioned in February 2014.

Q-SEP Model: Q-SEP 6008
UF Product Capacity: ~ 39 MLD
No. of Streams: 5 x 1441 gpm (5 x 327 m³/hr)
Quantity Per Stream: 78
Total Q-SEP Membranes: 390

QUA Solution
The power plant’s desalination system comprises a self-cleaning filter, followed by Q-SEP ultrafiltration and SWRO system. The UF system is designed based on flux data developed during exhaustive pilot testing. The backwash flux is maintained at 200 l/m²/hr. The chemically enhanced backwash is done once in a day using sodium hypochlorite. Provisions for CEB with sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid is provided. The backwash and CEB is common for all streams.

The UF transmembrane pressure has been < 0.5 bar since the startup. The cleaning of Q-SEP membranes is done by regular backwash and CEB’s. Cleaning in place has not been done since the startup. The product water turbidity has been consistently < 0.1 NTU and SDI15 < 3 which meet the RO membrane inlet requirement.