Stewart Burn – författare

Early applications of desalination were small-scale plants deploying a range of technologies. However with the technological developments in Reverse Osmosis, most new plants use this technology because it has a proven history of use and low energy and capital costs compared with other available desalination technologies. This has led to the recent trend for larger seawater desalination plants in an effort to further reduce costs, and 1000 MLD seawater desalination plants are projected by 2020. Efficient Desalination by Reverse Osmosis recognises that desalination by reverse osmosis has progressed significantly over the last decades and provides an up to date review of the state of the art for the reverse osmosis process. It covers issues that arise from desalination operations, environmental issues and ideas for research that will bring further improvements in this technology.  Efficient Desalination by Reverse Osmosis provides a complete guide to best practice from pre-treatment through to project delivery.   Editors: Stewart Burn, Visiting Scientist, CSIRO Manufacturing. Adjunct Professor, Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, Victoria University. Adjunct Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University. Stephen Gray, Director, Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, Victoria University.

International experience indicates that PE often exhibits the lowest failure rate of all materials in use. Many failures are due to third-party damage or poor joint preparation rather than failure under normal service loading conditions. While low failure rates should also be expected in the United States, there is insufficient historical data to extrapolate future failure rates. This project develops models to predict the long term performance prediction for PE pipes in the United States.? The objectives of this study were to (1) review the current field performance for polyethylene (PE) water pipelines; (2) review U.S. and international standards for PE water pipes; (3) review previous and state-of-the-art test methods and modeling techniques for service lifetime prediction of PE pipelines; (4) identify and measure relevant pipe properties that govern long-term field performance; and (5) develop and benchmark models to predict long-term field performance of PE pipes.? The experimental findings from this project demonstrate that the fracture performance of currently available PE materials is significantly improved from previous material grades. This indicates that the future performance of these current PE materials should not be assessed based on previous historical data held by water utilities. The simple equations provided from the physical probabilistic failure model in this study provide water utilities with a basis for estimating future failure rates. This information can be combined with knowledge of cost consequences of pipe failure and used to inform future asset management decisions, such as replacement planning and budget setting.

This report is an output of the fourth research track (Track 4) of WERF’s strategic asset management research program ‘Asset Management Communication and Implementation’ (SAM1R06). Track 4 addressed ‘remaining asset life’, and had the overall objective of contributing to the development of techniques, tools and methods for estimating residual life of wastewater assets. Track 4 research was planned to be undertaken in a staged manner, so as to provide a stepwise development of concepts and protocols. To this end, the research team has produced a synthesis of knowledge in relation to “end of life” and “remaining asset life”, which is the subject of this report. Drawing on the literature and the knowledge-base of the research team and industry partners, information is presented on the range of factors that influence the life of the different asset classes involved in the provision of wastewater services. A taxonomy of asset life is also given, along with a critical review of the conceptual linkages between risk, asset management and remaining asset life. A review of techniques used to assess remaining asset life is also included, as well as a detailed ‘state of the art’ review of modeling tools and approaches.  One of the key questions to be addressed in this initial stage of the research was the state of knowledge with respect to the estimation and prediction of remaining asset life, and if there is the capacity to translate between condition and performance data (e.g. the presence of significant defects) and the residual life of an asset. In this regard, this report builds on previous work undertaken by the research team into protocols for condition and performance assessments, as detailed in WERF (2007).