EMGC ’14: Israel shows off new plant technologies for water treatment, security

By ADRIENNE BLUME

TEL AVIV -- As part of Gulf Publishing Company's second annual Eastern Mediterranean Gas Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, a pre-conference tour on Monday sent attendees down the scenic Mediterranean coast to IDE Technologies' seaside desalination plant in Hadera, and then to Israel Aerospace Industries ELTA in Ashdod. 

The all-day tour was supported by the Israel Export Institute and the Israel NewTech program.

Major water treatment, small footprint. IDE Technologies (IDE), which offers a wide spectrum of produced and industrial water treatment and water desalination solutions on large, small and modular scales, also operates subsidiaries in the US, China, India and Chile. The Hadera desalination facility features advanced water treatment technologies, including thermal and membrane water treatment. IDE is one of the only companies to offer both technologies at one site. 

Tour attendees were guided through several areas of the Hadera facility, which is capable of producing 127 million (MM) cubic meters per year of desalinated water. The plant has advanced energy-efficiency measures in place to reduce its energy consumption and its costs, and to accommodate its narrow footprint, as the facility is located between a creek, a dune and a power plant. 

Attendees had the opportunity to view the plant's seawater intake facility (photo 1) and enjoy a cold cup of desalinated drinking water (photo 2) produced only an hour and a half before, from Mediterranean waters. 

Aside from providing desalinated water from its Hadera facility to the neighboring power plant, IDE operates other desalination facilities in Israel, and it also holds global partnerships in mining (Australia, South America), power (Asia, Europe and South America) and oil and gas operations (India, Europe). 

IAI stresses energy defense. The EMGC 2014 facility tour continued with a visit to the highly secure Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) ELTA, which is the largest defense industry in Israel and one of the leading aerospace and defense companies in the world. 

IAI ELTA is also the fourth-largest radar house in the world, providing tailored land, air and naval monitoring, radar and defense solutions to sensitive sites, including oil and gas installations and infrastructure. 

Tour attendees learned about the complexities of designing and implementing security solutions for pipelines, oil and gas rigs, refineries, pump stations, tank farms and other sensitive installations. IAI ELTA personnel discussed several advanced technologies previously released to the media, including microwave technologies, antennas, transmitters, signal processors and specially tailored test equipment. 

IAI ELTA personnel stressed the importance of minimizing vulnerabilities to attacks and theft at oil and gas installations and pipelines through advanced protection systems that send real-time data to high-tech command centers. These centers have been in operation on a national scale in Israel since 2003.

The tour concluded with a look at several examples of monitoring and detection equipment and vehicles offered by IAI ELTA, which measures $975 MM per year in sales.

Continuing conference coverage. EMGC 2014 is the first international event in Israel with a global audience covering all segments of the oil and gas industry. The main conference program spans two days, March 11–12, and includes presentations from high-level executives of prominent companies operating in the region, as well as from Israeli and Cypriot government representatives. 

Stay tuned to HydrocarbonProcessing.com, GasProcessingNews.com and WorldOil.com for more media coverage of this groundbreaking event for Israel and for the regional gas industry.