The market for pumps, valves, filters and chemicals used in desalination is expected to exceed $4.7 billion in 2014 based on research by the McIlvaine Company.
|
Product |
2014 Revenue ($ Millions) |
|
Water Treatment Chemicals |
700 |
|
Pumps |
500 |
|
Valves |
350 |
|
Liquid Macrofiltration |
90 |
|
Cartridges |
60 |
|
Sedimentation and Centrifugation |
50 |
|
Cross-flow Membrane Equipment and Replacement Modules |
3,000 |
|
Total |
4,750 |
Treatment chemical cost averages 0.03$/m3 of capacity in seawater, reverse-osmosis (RO) systems, and 0.02/ $/m3 in thermal systems. There is substantial use of scale inhibitors in thermal systems, while acids and antifoams are used in MSF (multi-stage flash) systems. Cleaning chemicals can be a substantial investment where RO is employed.
RELATED: Steady Demand for Sanitary Pumps in North America
The amount of water being pumped in desalination systems is presently only about 1 percent of the amount being pumped for all the world's drinking supplies. On the other hand, the high-pressure pumps needed for reverse osmosis are an order of magnitude more expensive than those used for drinking water transport.
Thermal systems require pumps for a number of processes:
• Seawater intake pumps
• Brine recirculation pumps
• Brine blow-down pumps
• Distillate extraction pumps
• Condensate extraction pumps
• Product forwarding pumps
Find more pump-related news and product info here.