Seawater desalination plants
Seawater desalination: Corrosion-resistant materials help make drinking water.
Drinking water is an increasingly scarce resource. Global water consumption is rising at an enormous rate, but only roughly 0.3 percent of all the earth’s water can be used as clean drinking water. To compound matters, these reserves are not equally distributed. Whereas there is hardly any shortage in the north, two thirds of Africa, for example, is made up of ecologically threatened arid regions or deserts. Former UN Secretary General Boutros Gali prophesied that "The wars of the future will be over water". The provision of drinking water will therefore be one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Against this background, seawater desalination plants are gaining ever-greater significance. They help to protect the last remaining natural freshwater reserves. But these plants place great demands on the materials used. Only extremely corrosion-resistant materials are capable of withstanding the aggressive saltwater. ThyssenKrupp has developed a solution to this problem: thin-walled, laser-welded tubes of Nirosta 4565S stainless steel are not only ideal for seawater applications, they also ensure that the plant’s heat exchangers will last at least 25 years.
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