Industry Survey

Global demand for freshwater has risen sharply as a result of population growth and urbanization, but only 2.5 per cent of freshwater resources are available. Global water scarcity has become a major challenge. Desalination is a method of removing salts and impurities from seawater and converting it into usable fresh water through technological means. This article provides an overview of the industry by exploring desalination overview, challenges, industry chain, technology and equipment.

Upstream equipment suppliers provide high-quality hardware and components, including reverse osmosis membrane systems, multi-stage flash distillation units, precision machining, anti-corrosion materials and energy recovery units. Midstream engineering companies are responsible for project design, consulting and implementation, including civil engineering, equipment installation and commissioning. The downstream application areas are mainly used for municipal water supply, industrial water and agricultural irrigation, verifying the practical benefits of seawater desalination technology.

Desalination technologies are mainly divided into physical and chemical methods. Physical methods include thermal, extraction and membrane methods, while chemical methods include hydrate and ion exchange methods. Currently, the most dominant desalination processes are multistage flash evaporation (MSF) and reverse osmosis (RO).

Among them, reverse osmosis membrane systems and multistage flash distillation units are the two most widely used.

Various segments of the desalination industry have specific needs for materials and equipment, and MTSCO has contributed to the development and progress of the industry by providing highly corrosion-resistant and high-strength products that meet the stringent requirements of the desalination industry. MTSCO's products are a remarkable match for seawater transfer, evaporators, reverse osmosis units, desalination pumps, and multi-stage flash evaporation processes, to name just a few.

Seawater transportation: As the first part of the desalination process, corrosion-resistant and high strength piping products, such as 316L or 2507 duplex steel piping, are in high demand.

Evaporator: as one of the key components of seawater desalination, it usually adopts materials with excellent corrosion resistance, such as 254SMO, 2205 and 2507 duplex steel pipes, plates and fittings, which are in high demand.

Reverse osmosis unit: The reverse osmosis unit in the reverse osmosis process requires high corrosion resistance and high strength materials, such as pipes, plates, fittings and flanges of 254SMO and 2507 duplex steel, which are in high demand.

Desalination pumps: play a key role in the desalination process and require high corrosion resistant materials, such as 2507 duplex steel pipes, with high demand.

Prefabricated parts and equipment manufacturing in the core area of the equipment: high corrosion-resistant grade materials, such as 6MO 31254 steel, with relatively low demand for dual-phase steel.