Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/107986
BUSINESS at how to reduce the level of small organic molecules in dairy wastewater. "By using the technology on dairy process water streams, the load on our water cleaning units will decrease significantly", says Thorfinn Thordarson, senior project manager of Arla Foods amba. Aquaporin Inside™ membranes will not only improve the quality of water extracted but also reduce the cost of extracting water. l Aquaporin A/S has received a Notification of Allowance from the Chinese government's State Intellectual Property Office for its patent application titled Methods for Production of Salinity Power. This follows a similar notification in September 2012 for Aquaporin's patent Membrane for Filtering of Water. In its annual report released on 13 December 2012, Aquaporin states that these and other patent applications "consolidated its position as a world leader in the development of biomimetic membranes for water purification". Aquaporin now owns 28 issued patents worldwide with more than 100 approved patent claims. In 2011/2012, says the annual report, Aquaporin made a loss (operating profit) of DKr 6.1 million (US$ 1.1 million) as predicted at the beginning of the year. The company's capital base was strengthened through the supply of capital from its major shareholder, and the company has received financial commitment from the same for all of 2012/2013. Chairman Søren Bjørn Hansen stated, "Over the coming year, Aquaporin needs to move from a pure R&D focused company to a global, commercial organisation rooted in R&D and ground-breaking innovation. This is a huge task, but the market potential for our revolutionising, patented technology is enormous, and we have all the opportunities of becoming a commercial success." "A part of the global strategy is the activation of the subsidiary Aquaporin Asia Pte Ltd in Singapore, where the possibilities and conditions for a development company such as Aquaporin are very favourable," said Hansen. "In addition, proximity to major markets in Asia including India, China and Japan is very interesting from a business perspective. It is expected that the Singapore company will be operational from early 2013." BIg NEw watEr-SEctor coNtractor IN DUBaI The Leighton Group, which has been involved in the construction of three of Australia's large seawater desalination plants, has brought two of its companies together in Dubai, UAE, to create a strong water and environment contracting company. The Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG) has joined forces with John Holland, to create Advance Water & Environment (AWE). Leighton companies, including John Holland, were involved in the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne desalination plants. HLG CEO and managing director Jose Antonio Lopez-Monis performed the launch of AWE in Abu Dhabi on 28 November 2012 and said the company was uniquely placed to pursue water and environment opportunities in the region. "Water and water-related projects are key growth markets for HLG. AWE and the strength of both HLG and John Holland places us in an excellent position to take advantage of the increasing opportunities in this growing sector. This strategic partnership will put us at the forefront of desalination, wastewater treatment and recycling, water storage and transmission, and specialist environmental projects in the region." Driven by population growth and an increasing demand for | 18 | Desalination & Water Reuse | February-March 2013 modern infrastructure, it is expected that more than US$ 50 billion will be invested in GCC water-related projects over the next five years. "Given the size, complexity and specialist skills required for this market, AWE is in the enviable position of being able to tap into the expertise of its joint venture partners, HLG and John Holland, and more broadly with our shared parent companies – the Leighton Group, Hochtief and ACS – to deliver early and effective entry into this sector in the Gulf region," added Lopez-Monis. "The establishment of this new specialist business aligns with HLG's strategy to diversify into new markets and new geographies. Our initial focus is on delivering more projects in Qatar, where we already have a strong track-record with Kahramaa, and pursuing more opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq." toray ExpaNDS calIforNIa mEmBraNE maNUfactUrINg SItE Membrane manufacturer Toray Membrane USA Inc has bought a third building located adjacent to its existing two-building manufacturing facility in Poway, California, USA. Toray announced on 4 January 2013 that the building would be used as a finished-goods warehouse for membrane bioreactor, hollow fine fiber and dairy/food/beverage spiral reverse-osmosis and ultrafiltration membrane elements. It will also provide offices for Toray's sales, marketing, customer service, applications engineering and technical service departments. aUStralIaN Start-Up SIgNS for SaUDI pIlot Australian desalination start-up Water Resources Group (WRG) announced on 4 December 2012 that its subsidiary Water Resources International (WRI) had signed a memorandum of understanding with Knowledge Industry Company (KIC) of Saudi Arabia. WRI will supply its Advanced Seawater Reverse Osmosis Desalination System (ASWRO) to be powered by hybrid wind and solar energy systems. To kick-start the agreement, WRI will supply and operate an ASWRO pilot plant for a major client in Saudi Arabia. KIC is developing community-scale desalinated watersupply projects using power from renewable energy sources. To penetrate the local market, KIC is funding the installation and commissioning of the first ASWRO plant in order to secure exclusive commercial supply rights from WRI. The commercial-scale pilot plant, which is expected to be operating in the third quarter of 2013, aims to demonstrate the economics of powering WRG's chemical-free, low-cost modular system by hybrid wind/solar energy. The group currently does not have a plant in commercial operation. Within a participation and supply agreement due to be finalized by the end of 2012, WRI will manufacture and supply commercial-scale ASWRO systems to KIC with production capacities of 20,000-40,000 m3/d. These systems are capable of servicing the needs of towns, industries and regional property developments. The feature that WRG hopes will sell its ASWRO package, which is otherwise a normal SWRO system, is its Plasma Chemical Reactor, which is a device for creating low-cost ozone from ambient air for pretreatment. This would be effective on difficult organics and might reduce biofouling.