The following is the fifth in a series of articles focusing on the Korean government"s "green growth" strategy. The series will also introduce the increasing efforts of major advanced countries of the world to promote a green economy. -- Ed.

A recent World Economic Forum report warned that the world was heading toward "water bankruptcy" as demand for the precious commodity outstripped high population growth.

"The world simply cannot manage water in the future in the same way as in the past or the economic web will collapse," according to a report quoted by AFP.

The report said most glaciers in the Himalayas and Tibet would be gone by 2100 at the current rate of melting. They currently provide water for two billion people. About 70 major rivers around the world are close to being totally drained in order to supply water for irrigation and reservoirs.

The World Economic Forum said that within two decades water will become a mainstream theme for investors -- even more so than oil.

Speaking at the Davos forum, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "the water problem is broad and systemic. Our work to deal with it must be so as well."

<**2>

Even though many countries around the world address water shortage issues, Korean newspapers tend to pay little attention to water shortage, even during the worst drought in the country. But the reality is South Korea is not safe from water shortage problems.

Seawater desalination technology and SeaHERO

As drought conditions occur and concern over water availability increases, seawater desalination has been drawing more attention as a solution to the global water shortage, as seawater makes up 97 percent of all water on earth.

Desalination refers to the task of modifying seawater into drinkable water. As the severe shortage of utilizable water increasingly becomes a reality, desalination is one area whose value is continuously rising.

There are many ways to make drinkable water from seawater, but thermal (i.e. multi-stage flash distillation, multiple-effect desalination, etc.) and seawater reverse desalination (SWRO) are the main systems. Doosan Heavy Industries is one of the largest thermal engineering, procurement and construction companies in the world. In 2006, it ranked first in terms of total product capacity for thermal seawater desalination plants. However, international market demand has rapidly changed from thermal to SWRO desalination.

In harmony with the needs of the world community, the Korean government decided to launch the Value Creator 10 projects in 2006 which included the SeaHERO research and development project.

SeaHERO is an acronym of seawater engineering and architecture of high efficiency reverse osmosis. The R&D initiative aims to acquire the top SWRO technology in the world.

The international trend leans more toward reverse osmosis and this technology is well suited to Korea"s projected water consumption. The Center for Seawater Desalination Plant, which was launched in December 2006, is the main office for the project. Its main missions include developing first-class technologies that enable the manufacturing of products for the world market. It is also committed to resolving the problem of water shortages mankind now faces by developing new desalination technology.

<**3>

Vision of SeaHERO R&D project

SeaHERO consists of four core research projects, currently undertaken by more than 500 researchers.

The four core research areas are:

-- Platform technology: development of membranes, automation and efficiency enhancement;

-- Material localization: identifying and cultivating next-generation manufacturers and suppliers;

-- Engineering, procurement and construction: cost reduction and design standardization;

-- Operation and maintenance: efficiency enhancement and low serviceability targets.

SeaHERO is an extensive six-year agenda to advance the intellectual and industrial level of Korea"s seawater desalination sector. It is heavily focused on membranes in its initial research work.

The project is aimed at exploring overseas markets by developing integral and strategic technologies. If it is successfully completed, Korea is expected to be able to export plants worth over $750 million each and take up more than 7 percent of the global market in 2013.

Each core research project manages unit research projects and commissioned research projects. Already a global leader in the production of membranes, the Korean industry is a natural partner for research initiatives in membrane science.

The project will be carried out in three stages over a period of five years and eight months, with a total budget of 150 billion won -- 27 billion won for the first stage, 81 billion won for the second stage and 42 billion won for the third stage

The strategy for each stage is as follows:

-- First stage: research on current technology and designing technology for plant construction

-- Second stage: securing the core technology and production of made-in-Korea components

-- Third stage: completion of the construction of the test bed and securing plant maintenance and management technology

Technical targets of SeaHERO

The six-year research project aims to promote innovations in RO membranes and energy recovery and reduce the cost of engineering, procurement and construction as well as operation and maintenance.

The program is a typical Asian-style partnership blending government initiative, academic research and corporate participation. The focus is on discrete outcomes that will ultimately accelerate industrial activity and increase economic strength.

New membrane improvements and energy recovery are part of the program and join the ranks of similar desalination research efforts worldwide. The Korean initiative differentiates itself by tackling innovation in large-scale plants, reducing EPC costs and seeking to transform operation and maintenance. In this arena, partnership with corporations will play a significant role in the later part of this research initiative.

Three major technical themes guide the overall research project. By tackling the technical themes within each research agenda, it is believed that overall success will be achieved.

The themes can be expressed by the acronym 3L -- large scale, low energy and low fouling.

Taken together, these themes are the core of Korea"s plan to be a leader in seawater desalination. Large-scale systems are now the standard, with the average global tender for RO desalination plants exceeding 100,000 cubic meters per day. Integration of systems, EPC practices and scaling are needed if desalination is to expand beyond 500,000 cubic meters per day.

Low energy is a paramount global research issue in desalination, and numerous corporations and universities are tackling this challenge. The test bed will have the capacity to test turbines, isobaric energy recovery devices and other energy-recovery systems.

Low fouling is tied not only to recovery, but also to operation and maintenance. Continuous monitoring is a key to good operations and lower overall maintenance costs. Long-lifetime membranes directly impact the life-cycle costs of the membranes -- a significant core component cost of any SWRO desalination plant. Operation and maintenance is a critical cost aspect, but is improved with continuous monitoring when low energy goals are met.

Integration of technologies into test-bed

The test-bed design and development of core technology will take place during the first phase, ending in the later part of 2009. The four core technology areas began development in 2008 with the design of the test-bed to be completed by 2010. The verification, application and commercialization of the new localized components will commence in 2010.

A test-bed is defined as a whole system for the real field application of developed unit technologies. The center is planning to construct a SWRO plant test-bed with 10 million imperial gallons per day (1MIGD equals 4,546 m3/d) as daily water production rate. The test-bed includes an 8MIGD unit SWRO train which is currently the largest of its kind in the world. The unit technologies developed through the core research projects 1, 2 and 3 will be integrated into the test-bed design and construction.

Core Research Project 1 is focused on infrastructure technology for reducing membrane fouling and optimizing the pretreatment system of the test-bed. The verification of the technical possibility and economic validity will lead to the arrangement of the infrastructural basis for the development of future technologies and the creation of a higher value added.

Core Research Project 2 aims at commercialization of core localized components such as membranes, pressure vessels, energy recovery systems and high-pressure pumps which are applied to the test-bed.

Woongjin Chemical Co. (formerly Saehan Membrane) is central to the membrane research agenda. The development of a Korean pressure vessel is the mission of World-TEC Co., while Hyosung Pump Co. is responsible for designing and developing the high pressure and efficiency pump and energy-recovery systems.

They will be tested and then commercially operated in the test-bed. Doosan, which provides crucial support for Core Research Project 3, is now designing the test-bed and planning to construct it. Acting from its broad industrial capacity, Doosan"s research contribution is to target a working large-scale system SWRO train as the culmination of its work with SeaHERO. The test-bed will be the first large-scale seawater desalination plant in Korea.

Deliverables up to now and future of SeaHERO

Since its inauguration, the Center for Seawater Desalination Plant has steadily advanced its expertise in next-generation desalination through multidimensional efforts and international cooperation. In an effort to become a world-class institute in the field of desalination technology, the center has been undertaking collaborative work with the European Desalination Society, holding a joint workshop each year. The annual International Desalination Workshop provides researchers in and outside the country with an opportunity to comprehend up-to-date research outcomes and allows researchers to develop advanced technology by offering them a chance to understand the trends of the international market (www.desalist.org).

In the second phase of the project, the Korean Institute of Science and Technology (Unit technology 2 of Core Technology 1) commenced pilot operation of a system with a capacity of 250 cubic meters per day to develop an optimized pre-treatment system for the test-bed. Also, Hyosung pump and Woongjin Chemical membrane are ready for the capability and capacity tests. If they pass the tests, it is likely to emerge as the leading practical technology. Another outstanding deliverable is Doosan"s winning of orders for a large-scale RO desalination plant.

This project is one way for Korea to become an integral part of the world community and make a meaningful contribution to humanity by enabling the world to achieve green growth and resolve the increasingly pressing water shortage.

Kim In-soo

-- Kim In-soo is a tenured professor of the Department of Environmental Science & Engineering at the Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology. Kim has been engaged in research into environmental biofilm and bioprocesses associated with membranes in the water sector.

He also leads the National Center for Seawater Desalination Plant as an executive director in charge of the SeaHERO Program 2006-2012. Kim was nominated for the UNESCO science prize by the Korean government in 2003. He also received an award from the Korean Federation of Science & Technology Association for his research in 2001 and Chevening Fellowship by the British Council in 2000.

-- He can be reached at iskim@gist.ac.kr

<2009.3.12 코리아헤럴드 게재>

전 세계적으로 극심한 가뭄으로 인한 물 부족 문제가 화두가 되고 있으며 한국도 물 부족 위기로부터 안전하지 않다. 지구상에 존재하는 물의 양은 약 13억 8,500만 km³으로 추정되며, 이 수자원 중 97 %를 차지하고 있는 해수의 활용은 오래전부터 관심의 대상이 되어 왔다. 나머지 3 %인 민물은 대부분이 빙산, 빙하, 지표수, 지하수, 대기 등에 분포한다.

해수담수화는 무한정 존재하는 해수를 인간이 사용가능한 담수로 바꾸는 것을 말하며 해수담수화 기술은 물 부족 위기가 점점 현실화 되어 가고 있는 지금 시점에서 가치를 더하는 기술이다.

해수를 담수화 하는 기술은 크게 증발식과 역삼투 방식이 있으며 증발식에서 역삼투 방식으로 점점 플랜트가 증가하는 추세이다. 그 주된 이유는 역삼투 방식이 증발식 보다 에너지 소모량이 상대적으로 적기 때문이다.

전 세계적으로 해수담수화 관련 기술의 확보는 중요한 국가 성장 동력으로 인식되고 있으며, 국토해양부는 2006년에 새롭게 수립한 건설교통 R&D 혁신로드맵의 “미래가치 창출”이 가능한 10대(VC-10) 과제 중의 하나로 해수담수화플랜트사업단(한국건설교통기술평가원 지원)을 2006년 12월 29일 발족하였다. 해수담수화플랜트 기술은 국가 산업의 국제 경쟁력 강화를 위한 대규모 실용화 기술 중심이라는 정부의 R&D 추진방향과 일치하며, 더 나아가 통합적이고 전략적인 기술을 개발함으로써 해외시장을 개척할 수 있는, 즉 상용화를 통한 가치창출이 가능한 대표적 R&D 과제이다. 본 사업은 3단계 추진 전략을 바탕으로 총 5년 8개월 동안 1544억 예산 규모(정부 794억과 민간 750억)로 운영될 예정이며 단계별로는 1단계 268억, 2단계 438억, 3단계 838억으로 조성되어 있다. 단계별 추진 전략은 1단계(2007~2008) 기술동향 및 플랜트 구성 설계 기술 연구, 2단계(2008~2010) 핵심기반기술 확보 및 국산부품완성, 3단계(2010~2012) 테스트베드 완공 및 플랜트 유지관리 기술 확보를 목표로 하고 있다.

본 사업단은 바닷물을 담수화 시키는 세계 초일류 기술개발과 이의 상용화를 통한 수출 및 국부창출을 지향하고, 범 세계적 물 부족 문제로 인하여 생존의 위기를 겪고 있는 국가와 그 국민들에게 인도적 공헌을 할 수 있음을 비전으로 삼고 있으며 3 L (Large Scale, Low Fouling, Low Energy Consumption)의 기술 전략을 바탕으로 2012년 세계시장 7 %, 해외 플랜트 수출 1조원을 목표를 달성할 것으로 전망된다.