Overview
JDU-200 is the high-capacity member of the jet desalination line: a modular seawater plant built on the proprietary Arbok Evaporation hydrodynamic method, in which water boils under deep vacuum at the temperature of the surroundings — no membranes, no feed pumps, no chemical reagents.
The unit is fully containerised, occupying 6 to 7 standard 40-ft high-cube containers, and is designed for rapid deployment onshore, pier-side or on floating structures. Seawater intake is gravity-fed, driven by the internal vacuum rather than by a pump. Output is ultra-pure water below 10 ppm TDS, suitable for industrial, municipal or agricultural use in remote and water-stressed locations.
Specific energy consumption is about 1.22 kWh/m³, design life of the main assemblies is 25 years, and a shift is run by 2 to 3 operators. The combination — compact, scalable, low-consumable — places it against conventional SWRO at industrial scale rather than in the small-unit niche.
Applications
Islands, marinas and remote resorts where no pipeline supply exists and freight of consumables is the dominant cost.
Industrial and mining sites requiring large volumes of process water at controlled quality.
Emergency response and military deployment, where the containerised form factor and the absence of consumables decide feasibility.
Municipal and agricultural supply in water-stressed regions, either standalone or as the water half of a hybrid water-energy utility.
Operating Principle
The Arbok Evaporation hydrodynamic method holds the feed under deep vacuum, where water passes to the vapour phase at the temperature of the incoming seawater and of the surroundings. No heat is supplied and no temperature setpoint exists. The vapour is condensed and collected as product water; the salt leaves in the concentrate.
Because separation is by phase transition rather than by pressure against a membrane, the plant needs no membranes, no high-pressure feed pumps and no antiscalants or cleaning chemistry. Seawater enters by gravity, drawn by the vacuum itself. A heat-recovery loop (recuperator) integrated within the vacuum chamber circuit returns thermal energy to the process, improving overall energy efficiency without requiring any external heat input or temperature setpoint. The chamber assembly is sized to the unit's rated throughput.
Key Parameters
| Parameter | Value |
|—|—|
| Fresh water production | 200 m³/h — about 1,752,000 m³/year at full load |
| Product water quality | TDS below 10 ppm |
| Specific energy consumption | about 1.22 kWh/m³ |
| Installed electrical power | 245 kW |
| Power supply | 380–690 V, 50/60 Hz |
| Process temperature | ambient — equal to the feed and the surroundings, no heat supplied, no setpoint |
| Footprint | 6–7 × 40-ft HC containers; assembled about 40 × 12 × 4.5 m |
| Fresh water buffer | Integrated buffer capacity, or direct discharge to distribution |
| Materials | Corrosion-resistant alloys and marine-grade metals selected for long-term seawater duty |
| Design life | 25 years for main assemblies |
| Staffing | 2–3 operators per shift |
| Automation | full PLC/SCADA, remote monitoring |
| Consumables | none — no membranes, no reagents |
Architecture and Components
Six to seven 40-ft high-cube containers assembled into a plant of roughly 40 × 12 × 4.5 m. Inside: the vacuum evaporation chamber with its integrated heat-recovery loop, the condensation and product-collection circuit, a fresh-water buffer that may be omitted where discharge is direct to distribution, and the electrical and control bay at 245 kW installed power.
Wetted surfaces use corrosion-resistant alloys and marine-grade metals selected for extended service life in continuous seawater contact. Control is a full PLC/SCADA stack with remote monitoring.
Advantages
No membranes or chemicals. Consumable cost and biofouling risk both drop out of the operating model.
Low maintenance. Fewer failure points, and modules are swapped quickly.
Competitive energy use. 1.22 kWh/m³ is on par with or better than SWRO.
Modular and mobile. Container form suits islands, emergency response and rapid deployment.
Reduced brine volume, which simplifies discharge and environmental compliance.
Gravity intake. Feed is drawn by the internal vacuum, removing the high-pressure feed pump of a membrane plant.
Integrations
ARBOK-Purification · ARBOK-Brine · Arbok-Criojet
JDU-200 can be combined with renewable generation and storage, or serve as the backbone utility in a hybrid off-grid water-and-energy installation. Solar PV, battery storage and SCADA platforms are generic infrastructure rather than ARBOK technologies and are not linked as base cards.
Deployment & Operation
Deployed onshore, pier-side or on floating structures. Containers arrive pre-assembled and are connected on site; intake is gravity-fed from the sea. Operation is continuous under PLC/SCADA with remote monitoring, staffed by 2 to 3 operators per shift.
Commissioning follows a standard sequence of factory acceptance testing, on-site container placement and connection, system commissioning, and operator training, with service intervals set by routine PLC/SCADA-monitored inspection of the process and electrical systems.
TRL
TRL 6–7 — demonstrated at pilot scale, undergoing field validation. The system has been validated in controlled conditions and is ready for operational trials across varied salinity, temperature and deployment environments.
Market Potential
The target segments named in the source are small islands, marinas and remote resorts; industrial and mining sites; and emergency and military deployment. The competitive claim rests on three axes — energy efficiency, mobility and the absence of consumables — positioning JDU-200 as an alternative to traditional SWRO at scale rather than as a niche small unit.
Precise market sizing depends on regional adoption rates for containerized, chemical-free desalination relative to conventional membrane plants, but underlying demand tracks directly with global freshwater scarcity and the premium placed on low-maintenance, rapidly deployable systems in remote, coastal and water-stressed locations.
Typical Project Economics
Estimates recorded for 2025–2026.
CAPEX, total estimated investment €17.0–21.0 million. Specific CAPEX €85,000–105,000 per m³/h.
OPEX, annual: electricity about €2.14M at €0.08/kWh, staff €0.4–0.5M, maintenance and spares €0.45–0.6M, insurance and taxes €0.2–0.3M.
Unit water cost: €0.17–0.19 per m³.
Risk Factors
Prototype status. The unit requires full-scale validation; the figures above are design estimates, not measured plant performance.
Regulatory alignment. Concentrate discharge must conform to local rules, which differ by jurisdiction and are tightening in coastal zones.
Feedwater variability. Site-specific tuning may be required for salinity, temperature and biological load.
Logistics. Spare-part access and trained field personnel are prerequisites at remote sites, which is precisely where the unit is aimed.
Recommendations recorded in the source: run pilot trials in representative real-world settings; evaluate total cost of ownership over 5 to 10 years including maintenance and logistics; engage local regulators on discharge and permitting early; plan renewable integration to cut the energy line, which dominates OPEX; establish remote support and training infrastructure.
Related Technologies
ARBOK-Purification · ARBOK-Brine · Arbok-Criojet · ARBOK Low-Carbon Water