Water. desalination + reuse

BUSINESS May-June 2014| Desalination & Water Reuse | 15 | coRpoRate changes WatEr PlaNEt to USE 3M PolyMEr for MEMBraNES Water Planet Engineering (WPE), a spinoff company from the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA), has entered into a joint development agreement with global company 3M to explore commercial production of a new polymer material with widespread industrial application. WPE is developing a new class of "polymeric-ceramic" membrane materials, originally developed at UCLA, under the trade name PolyCera™. As part of the agreement, the polymer manufactured by 3M will be used by WPE in the manufacture of their PolyCera membrane separation products. Over the past decade, UCLA scientists with California NanoSystems Institute (cnsi.ucla.edu) and WPE have developed novel methods of synthesizing polymer nano-structures and forming them into coating films and membranes that exhibit unique combinations of material properties and performance characteristics. These attributes make the polymer suited for a range of specialized applications. "Partnering with Water Planet Engineering to develop novel polymer solutions strengthens the build-out of our polymer platform into new markets," said Paula Hubbard, global business manager, 3M Advanced Materials Division. "The WPE technology demonstrates exciting performance advantages over current membrane materials and we are energized to take this science to the next level." "We are very excited to be working with a world-class organization like 3M," said Dr. Eric Hoek, CEO of Water Planet Engineering. "Accessing 3M's industry-leading expertise in polymer synthesis is game-changing for WPE as it allows us to focus on our core expertise in membrane formation and application." WPE's PolyCera membrane technology exhibits a high thermal and chemical stability along with high hydrophilicity and fouling resistance – the combination of which is traditionally associated only with ceramic membranes – while retaining the low cost and high packing density module designs of polymeric membranes. It is envisioned that such a breakthrough membrane product could find widespread use in industrial separations, water and wastewater treatment, membrane bioreactors and beyond. Caption SINgaPorE dUo lookS toWardS MEMBraNE PlaNtS IN NIgErIa Development of membrane-based water treatment plants in nigeria has moved closer, following the signing of a joint venture agreement between hyflux International pte Ltd (hIpL) and tolaram corporation pte Ltd, both from singapore. a company called Yewa Water company pte Ltd has been set up with hIpL and tolaram holding equal equity stakes. aBENgoa takES StakE IN grEENtEch Spanish desalina on and energy contractor Abengoa has acquired 25% of the Beijing-based water company GreenTech. GreenTech was established in 2004 and is a leader in the Chinese wastewater treatment and reuse market. It serves both municipal and industrial clients and has over 40 references in water treatment with a combined capacity of 2.1 million m 3 /d. Mott MacdoNald aBSorBS aWt The Mo MacDonald consultancy group has taken in AWT, a specialist water technology and consul ng company based in New Zealand and Australia. The move is part of Mo MacDonald's business strategy to broaden the services the company offers in the Australasia region. coNtract BrIEfS ____ For more details, visit www.desalination.biz __ US$ 5 MIllIoN raISEd By ISraElI MEMBraNE dEvEloPEr Israel's Advanced Mem-Tech, which develops innovative membrane filtration processes used in water treatment, announced on 12 March 2014 the completion of a financing round close to US$ 5 million. Investors in this round are a US investors group, led by Uzi Halevy, and SEB Alliance, the corporate venture company of Groupe SEB. Advanced Mem-Tech, owned by The Trendlines Group, develops membranes, characterized by high flux and low flow. They are claimed to filter bacteria, microbes and parasites from water at a higher rate than current solutions. The company claims that its technology uses less energy and a smaller ecological footprint than other technologies available on the market, giving the company a distinct competitive advantage and addressing market segments that were previously inaccessible. Advanced Mem-Tech's technology is based on the development of a team of leading researchers from the Technion, including Dr Morris Eisen and Dr Rafi Smiiat. It holds a business partnership with The Israeli Water Company through the Watech program, as well as a strategic partnership for the production of polymers with a leading international polymer company. Moshe Kelner, CEO of Advanced Mem-Tech: "Our membrane technology produced successful results at several locations around the world. Its uniqueness is that it is relevant for applications and new market segments, where membrane technology has not been present to date. We're currently in negotiations to implement and market our technology in a number of relevant applications with various companies from Europe and the US." "The membranes we developed have real potential to optimize the water purification process and provide clean water while reducing energy consumption and the ecological footprint left by the process on the environment," he added. vISIt oNlINE desalination.biz

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