Minimize the negative impact of oil contamination on Abu Dhabi power and desalination plants

The water resources in the Arab Gulf Region are very limited. The situation of the gulf area is dramatically more serious with the increasing population and much lower rainfall. Power and desalination plants are extensively built in the region to overcome the water shortage and provide power. Abu Dhabi Emirate of United Arab Emirates has five large power and desalination plants with a total capacity of 550 Million Gallon Water and 5000 Mega Watt per day. The heavy traffic of the oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf increases the risk of oil spillage which may reach the seawater intakes of one or more plants sited on seashore or in lagoons. Oil contamination of seawater intakes can affect the quality of the desalinated water and may cause the shut down of the plants in most cases. As the desalinated water is becoming a strategic product it is very essential to protect the plants from any oil contamination could reach their seawater intakes from any source of oil pollution like oil spill accident and leakage from oil terminals. Oil protection measures are installed at the seawater intakes of Abu Dhabi power and desalination and are deployed in the contingency events. The Water and Power Research Center of Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority developed a powerful and effective early oil spill warning system to assist and support the plants by providing the plant managers with the trajectory and concentration of oil spill which may attack the plants. The advantage of the oil spill warning system is to give a warning signal in advance to the plant which may attacked by the oil spill so the oil protection measures can deployed and used to prevent the oil slick from approaching the seawater intakes of the plants.The paper describes the developed oil spill warning system in Abu Dhabi. A case study on oil spill accident occurred in Abu Dhabi waters is used to demonstrate the application of oil spill warning system. The oil protection measures installed in Abu Dhabi Power and Desalination Plants are described.