Oman’s Al Ansab STP to get membrane bioreactor from Japanese firm

30/12/2015 07:54 AST

Japanese heavy equipment manufacturer Kubota Corporation has secured a contract to supply one of the world’s biggest membrane bioreactors (MBR) for installation at the Al Ansab Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) project in Muscat Governorate.

The Osaka-headquartered firm announced earlier this week that its French subsidiary, Kubota Europe, was awarded the multimillion dollar order by Korean engineering and construction giant Doosan Heavy Industries Co, Ltd, which is currently undertaking the Phase II expansion of Al Ansab STP at a cost of around $81 million.

The client is Haya Water, the wholly government-owned utility which is overseeing the development and modernisation of much of the Sultanate’s nation’s wastewater sector with an investment running into several billions of dollars.

Based on cutting-edge wastewater treatment technology, the membrane bioreactor process combines the advantages of the membrane process and bioreactor to remove solids, thereby enabling the efficient production of high-quality reclaimed water, while leaving a smaller environmental footprint.

The flat-bed membrane system also eliminates pathogenic e-coli bacteria so that treated effluent water can be re-used for municipal irrigation, as well as a range of non-potable outdoor uses, according to the manufacturer.

Designed to process 125,000 cubic metres of raw sewage per day, the Kubota unit is expected be the largest of its kind ever to be installed anywhere in the Middle East. Phase 1 of the Al Ansab STP already features a submerged membrane bioreactor supplied by Kubota in 2010, says Kubota.

Construction work on Phase II of the sewage treatment plant — the largest in the Sultanate — began in August following the award of an Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) contract to Doosan Heavy. Under the contract, the Korean engineering conglomerate is also responsible for equipment supply and pilot operation.

When completed by around August 2017, the plant will rank among the largest flat-sheet MBR facilities in the world, capable of treating up to 22 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of sewage.

US-headquartered global multi-disciplinary consultancy services firm AECOM was the engineering design consultant for Phase II of the Al Ansab STP project.

Oman Daily Observer