The MECO MN-100 units were developed over the last three years through funding provided by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Future Naval Capability Program (FNC).The advanced shipboard desalination plants are rated at 100,000 gallons per day of freshwater production. They have the capability to produce not only drinking water quality, but ultrapure water for special purposes like electronics cooling, turbine injection and similar needs. The units are designed to eliminate, or significantly minimize, sailor involvement related to the normal operation and maintenance. The plants are highly automated with the capability to adapt to changing conditions, optimizing operation continuously for things like variations in seawater temperature, salinity and turbidity eliminating the need for routine operator intervention. Consumable filters are eliminated in favor of chlorine tolerant membranes that retard fouling and are automatically backwashed based upon the machines need. The result is the elimination of downstream particulate and biological fouling of desalination membranes. The MN-100 plants use electricity for power and are highly energy-efficient reducing energy consumption over existing technology by 75% & 98% respectively. Another attribute of the modern design is an increase in freshwater recovery without adding chemical pretreatments resulting in a reduction of seawater feed flow to the machines. The MN-100 units reduce feedwater consumption by 90% over existing distillation technology. Constructed principally of titanium and high alloy stainless steel, the machines are relatively lightweight, corrosion and fire resistant.
