Piloting Laboratory

 

​​​WDRC’s pilot-scale research facilities allow the Center to scale up its research ideas and activities to study full-scale implementation and commercialization. In all, the Center plans to have six pilot-scale research facilities at the University, including seawater desalination, innovative desalination, solar adsorption desalination, industrial water treatment, natural water treatment and systems and wastewater-reuse. Among these, four facilities have been completed and are in operation.​

Facilities

Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Pilot Facility

Seawater Reverse Osmosis Pilot Plant focuses on minimizing scaling and fouling in reverse osmosis desalination and prolonging the operational life of the membrane through effective pretreatment.

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Industrial Cooling Tower Pilot Facility

A fully automated cooling tower pilot plant built at KAUST’s Central Utilities Plant, with an area of 100 m2, equipped with more than 90 sensors to assess the effectiveness of conventional in controlling cooling tower operations.

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Adsorption Desalination (AD) and Adsorption Desalination with MED Pilot Facility

The adsorption desalination (AD) pilot-scale research facility is located in Building 7. This is a solar-powered and fully automated desalination pilot plant facility (generating 8-12 m3/day of desalinated water) that has been in operation since 2011.

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