Nikolay Voutchkov, PE, BCEE

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Presents a SunCam continuing education series on the topic of:

Introduction to Reverse Osmosis Desalination

Contact author at:
nvoutchkov@water-g.com
Water Globe Consulting, LLC
http://www.water-g.com/
824 Contravest Lane
Winter Springs, FL 32708, USA

Mr. Voutchkov has over 25 years of experience in the field of desalination, water and wastewater treatment and reuse. He is a former chief technology officer for Poseidon Resources, a private company which is developing the largest seawater desalination projects in the US. Currently Mr. Voutchkov provides independent technical advisory services associated with the permitting, development, financing and implementation of seawater desalination projects worldwide through his own company Water Globe Consulting, LLC. He is a registered professional engineer and a diplomate of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. Mr. Voutchkov is one of the principal authors of the American Water Works Association's latest Manual of Water Supply Practices (AWWA M46) on Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration, and of the World Health Organization Guidance for Health and Environmental Aspects Applicable to Desalination.

Books authored or coauthored by Nikolay Voutchkov

Course Title Rating Hours Price

053-Introduction to Reverse Osmosis Desalination

(4.7) 44 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

This course provides an introduction to the key principles and performance parameters associated with reverse osmosis membranes and their use for brackish and seawater desalination. The course outlines the principle of reverse osmosis and explains factors that define membrane performance, including key source saline water characteristics types and structure of reverse osmosis membranes and their use in modern desalination systems.

113-Management of Desalination Plant Concentrate

(4.5) 8 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

This course provides an overview of the alternatives for management of concentrate generated by brackish water and seawater desalination plants. The main focus of the course is on widely used alternatives for disposal of concentrate, including outfall discharge to surface water bodies; disposal to the wastewater collection system; deep well injection; land application; and evaporation. The reader will learn the basics of concentrate management and will gain knowledge on key criteria and factors for selection, implementation and design of the most commonly used concentrate disposal alternatives.

118-Re-mineralization of Desalinated Water

(4.5) 2 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Desalinated water has very low mineral content. Re-mineralization aims to supplement this water with chemicals which: (1) provide protection of the distribution system against corrosion and (2) add minerals needed to meet human dietary needs and to facilitate other potential uses of the desalinated water such as irrigation. This education course provides an overview of key alternative re-mineralization technologies, including: (1) direct addition of chemicals containing calcium and magnesium; (2) processes where re-mineralization is accomplished by blending of desalinated water and saline source water; and (3) treatment technologies where calcium or calcium and magnesium are added by dissolving naturally occurring minerals such as limestone and dolomite. The course focuses on the practical aspects of the implementation of these re-mineralization technologies and provides key design criteria and guidelines for their implementation and operation.

278-Introduction to Wastewater Clarifier Design

(4.3) 11 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

This course introduces the reader to the key issues and considerations associated with successful and cost-effective design of primary and secondary clarifiers for wastewater treatment plants. The course presents an overview of the main advantages and disadvantages of rectangular and circular clarifiers and provides key design criteria for primary and secondary clarifiers.

In the course the reader will find guidance of how to select the most appropriate configuration, surface overflow rate, hydraulic detention time, and depth of primary and secondary clarifiers and how to tailor clarifier design to the typical challenges facing almost all wastewater treatment plants such as: excessive transient flows during wet weather conditions; septicity of the plant influent and primary sludge, occasional upsets of the activated sludge system resulting in poorly settling sludge; and episodes of rapid increase of sludge blanket depth, and deterioration of clarifier effluent quality.

The course discusses how the configuration and type of the selected plant influent pump station, screening and grit removal equipment impact clarifier performance as well as how clarifier operation influences other key wastewater treatment plant facilities such as the activated sludge aeration basins, sludge thickeners, and aerobic and anaerobic digesters. The reader will learn about the typical approaches used for optimization of the clarifier — activated sludge system design and will find case studies implementing such approaches at full-scale wastewater treatment plants.

279-Fundamentals of Clarifier Performance Monitoring and Control

(4.2) 8 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Clarifiers are integral part of most wastewater treatment plants. The main learning objective of this course is for the reader to gain understanding of the common practices, technologies and equipment used for monitoring and control of the performance of primary and secondary clarifiers.

The course presents an overview of the key perfomance parameters used for clarifier design and operation, and of the working principles of popular clarifier montioring equiment such as turbidimeters, ultrasonic solids analyzers, nuclear solids density meters, and sludge balanket level detectors.

This course provides guidance regarding the typical areas of application, key advantages and technology limitations for each type of clarifier monitoring equipment. Knowledge gained from the course would build your skills and understaning of how to select the most appropriate methods and equipment for succesful monitoring and control of clarifiers for the site specific conditions of a given wastewater treatment plant. Most of the fundamental knowledge presnted in this course can also be applied for monitoring and control of clairifiers in drinking water plants.

281-Environmental Review & Permitting of Desalination Projects - Part 1

(5) 3 Reviews

5 $112.50

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

With this course the reader will gain through understanding of the key environmental issues and challenges as well as reliable solutions associated the implementation of desalination projects.

The Part 1 of the course provides an overview of the potential environmental impacts associated with the construction and operation of desalination plants and to presents alternatives for their minimization and mitigation. The course focuses on three key environmental impact aspects: (1) intake impingement and entrainment; (2) concentrate impact on aquatic environment; and (3) carbon footprint of desalination plant operations.

282-Environmental Review & Permitting of Desalination Projects - Part 2

(4) 1 Review

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

With this course the reader will gain through understanding of the key environmental issues and challenges as well as reliable solutions associated the implementation of desalination projects.

In Part 2 of the course, the reader will learn about the scope and content of supporting environmental studies, which government regulatory agencies require to be completed by the desalination project proponent in order to obtain necessary permits for collecting intake water, for discharge of desalination plant concentrate and for introducing desalinated water into the municipal drinking water supply system.

386-Introduction to Planning of Desalination Projects

(5) 3 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Planning of desalination projects is of critical importance for successful project implementation and for producing desalinated water at competitive cost and minimal impact to the surrounding terrestrial and aquatic environment. The purpose of project planning is to define the size, location and scope of the desalination project and chart a roadmap for project implementation.

This education course provides an overview of key steps associated with the planning of desalination project, from selecting service area and target product water quality for the project, to determining viable plant location, intake and discharge configuration, and identifying the most cost effective treatment processes. The course focuses on the practical guidance and real-life experience in the development of desalination projects in the US and abroad.

388-Introduction to Desalination Project Design and Delivery

(4.9) 7 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Implementing a successful desalination project encompasses a number of steps including planning, conceptual and detailed designs, construction, commissioning and acceptance testing. This course presents and introduction to the design and delivery of desalination projects and provides insights into project funding alternatives.

The course encompasses discussion of the key factors considered in the selection of desalination plant treatment processes (pretreatment, membrane salt separation, post-treatment) and equipment. The course introduces the principles used for pilot testing to verify and optimize desalination plant treatment process, and to select plant configuration and layout. Overview of the energy and chemical use of desalination plants are presented and the dosages of most common chemicals are provided in the course. The course also focuses on the fundamentals of project scheduling, implementation and phasing and addresses project economics and most common methods of project delivery such as design-bid-build, design-build-operate and build-own-operate transfer.

389-Overview of Alternative Desalination Technologies

(5) 3 Reviews

4 $90.00

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Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.

Course Description:

Fresh water can be produced from various saline water sources (ground water, brackish surface water or seawater) using a number of alternative desalination technologies such as thermal evaporation, reverse osmosis membrane separation and electrodialysis.

This course introduces the reader to the desalination technologies used most widely at present worldwide and defines key advantages, disadvantages, and areas of application of each of these technologies. The provided information encompasses both thermal evaporation technologies such as multistage flash distillation (MSF), multi-effect distillation (MED) and vacuum compression (VC) as well as reverse osmosis desalination using spiral wound membranes (RO) and electrodialysis reversal (EDR) systems. The course contains graphs and tables comparing the capital and operation and maintenance expenditures and water production costs of these alternative desalination technologies and highlights the differences in their energy use and fresh product water quality.

Future Courses by Nikolay Voutchkov, PE, BCEE

Introduction to Alternative Methods of Contractor Procurement
Introduction to Open Coastal Intakes
Introduction to Coastal Well Intakes
Fundamentals of Coastal Intake Pump Station Design
Introduction to Chemical Feed Systems for Water Treatment
Fundamentals of Sand Removal, Sedimentation and Dissolved Air Flotation
Introduction to Seawater Pretreatment by Granular Media Filtration
Introduction to Seawater Pretreatment by Membrane Media Filtration
Fundamentals of Reverse Osmosis System Design
Fundamentals of Desalination Project Cost Estimating
Fundamentals of Operation and Troubleshooting of Coastal Intakes
Introduction to Operation and Troubleshooting of Desalination Plant Pretreatment Facilities
Fundamentals of Reverse Osmosis System Operation
Introduction to Reverse Osmosis System Troubleshooting
Introduction to Operation and Troubleshooting of Water Re-mineralization Systems
Introduction to Water Treatment Plant Equipment Maintenance