Researchers and engineers at Atieh Pardazan Sharif Company, a knowledge-based firm, have manufactured a seawater electrochlorination system that can treat and disinfect saline water and provide it to be used for drinking as well as in the industries and aquaculture sector, managing director of the company said.
“The system uses the salt in the seawater to generate electricity to produce chlorine molecules. The chlorine then enters the cells of microorganisms such as viruses and algae, and kills them,” ISNA quoted Mehdi Shafiei as saying.
The seawater electrochlorination system designed and built by the local experts at the APZ Company has been used in various industrial fields in Iran
including Mobin, Morvarid and Damavand petrochemical plants, all in the southern Bushehr Province alongside the Persian Gulf, and Golgohar Mining and Industrial Company in Kerman Province that receives water via a long pipeline from the Persian Gulf, he added.
Electrochlorination is the process of producing hypochlorite by passing electric current through salt water. This disinfects the water and makes it safe for human use, such as for drinking water or swimming pools among others.
Electrochlorination generates sodium hypochlorite, on-site and on-need, without the need for any additives or particular treatments. The electric current passes through the seawater by the MMO Anodes. Now, the electrolysis generates the sodium hypochlorite that is the main product of the reaction.
“Petrochemical plants use water for cooling purposes, and if the water is not disinfected and its microorganisms are not killed, algae and seaweed will grow inside the pipes and clog them. Therefore, water must be disinfected so that algae do not grow inside the pipes,” Shafiei noted.
The modern disinfection system has also been exported to the UAE to be used in shrimp and fish farms. Negotiations are also underway to export it to China and CIS countries, he said.
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Moldavia, Uzbekistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine.
According to reports, more than 47% of fish and shrimp consumed globally is supplied by aquaculture, and water quality is one of the important factors in this field, which affects the health and quality of the fish, and preserve the environment.
Located in Tehran, Atieh Pardazan Sharif Company manufactures and supplies advanced electrochlorination systems based on cutting-edge technology.
Seawater electrochlorination systems are developed as the go-to solution for control of marine biological fouling in the offshore oil and gas industry. They provide the most effective and environmentally safe method for the prevention of biofouling that would negatively affect the seawater systems within an offshore facility.
Such systems typically consist of a core electrolyzer cell arrangement with associated transformer/rectifier, dosing pumps, storage tanks and process piping. The system produces in-situ, a dilute, safe solution of sodium hypochlorite for direct injection into the seawater circuit.
One of the main challenges in the upstream processes of the oil and gas industry is to protect pipeline and process equipment against biological fouling. The engineering disciplines involved in protecting seawater processes play an essential part in the prevention of production downtime due to the effects of macro and micro fouling.
Restriction of cooling water flows, acceleration of corrosion and a reduction in the overall life of process equipment can all be controlled by the effective design of the electrochlorination package.
