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Meeting the Fresh Water Demands of a Cruise Ship
When a new generation of 167,000 GT cruise ships were being built for a premium cruise brand, reliable access to fresh water was essential.
With more than 6,000 people expected to be on board each vessel, the ships needed a dependable and highly efficient way to produce fresh water from seawater. Each ship was therefore designed with three Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants, each capable of producing up to 800m³ of desalinated fresh water per day.
Designing a Fresh Water Maker Around the Ship
Given the size of the RO plants, they were skid mounted and installed during the construction of each ship – meaning the vessels were effectively built around the plants.
From the outset, the design was developed with long-term operation and maintenance in mind. Lifting beams and dedicated lifting points were incorporated to allow larger equipment to be removed when required, while walkways and access ladders provided safe and practical access for sand filter filling and routine maintenance.
Each fresh water maker comprises automated suction and discharge valves, a feed/backwash pump, two sand filters operating in parallel, antiscalant dosing, cartridge filtration, high-pressure pumps, an RO stack and an automatic permeate dump system.
The electrical control panel provides a clear operator interface, annunciates alarm conditions and safety trips, and controls the automatic backwash of the sand filters alongside the automatic operation of the plant.
Making Every Kilowatt Count
For a vessel of this scale, energy efficiency was a key consideration.
The innovative solution incorporates two-pass RO technology, producing exceptionally high-quality RO permeate, alongside isobaric energy recovery technology to significantly reduce the power required to operate the plants.
As a result, each energy efficient fresh water maker was designed to operate at less than 3.5 kW/m³, helping the cruise ships produce the fresh water they need while keeping energy consumption under control.
Reliable Water, Wherever the Voyage Leads
With three plants installed on each vessel, the system provides the capacity, efficiency and reliability needed to support thousands of passengers and crew – day after day, voyage after voyage.
Planning your next cruise ship RO project?
If you’re looking for a reliable, energy efficient RO plant, our team can help. From initial design and manufacturing through to installation, commissioning and ongoing support, we work with customers to deliver water treatment solutions designed around their needs.
