PWN Technologies of Velserbroek, The Netherlands and Japan’s

Metawater Co Ltd have entered into a strategic alliance to seek out and develop business opportunities for the supply of ceramic membrane systems.

The firms have agreed to jointly pursue the ceramic membrane market internationally on a unified, non-competitive basis. This agreement will apply for 18 months.

PWN Technologies’ primary roles in the alliance will be marketing, business develop-ment, client management and the supply and engineering of its CeraMac system. Metawater’s primary roles will be the delivery of membranes for the CeraMac system and the supply of engineering services for its mem-brane technology. Both companies have agreed to develop a common plan for approaching the opportunity. The starting point will be to determine which system – either CeraMac or Metawater’s ceramic system – is more appro-priate for a certain project, including from the standpoint of the specific technical approach, such as piloting.

The companies say that they will make com-mercially reasonable efforts to collaborate inten-

sively on conducting pilot testing. It is antici-pated that each pilot test will be approached as a common project, which will entail the shar-ing of resources, that is pilot plants, data and operational staff. A joint economic analysis will be done to determine where each system is the most competitive, based on flow rate.

In addition, both companies will explore how to expand Metawater’s role in supplying the CeraMac system, above and beyond the supply of membranes. This evaluation will be conduct-ed and concluded within the first six months.

PWN Technologies and Metawater collabo-rated successfully on the construction of the water treatment plant Andijk III (PWN) in The Netherlands and the CeraMac demonstra-tion plant at the Choa Chu Kang Waterworks (Public Utilities Board) in Singapore.

Contacts:

PWN Technologies, Rijksweg 501, PO Box 2046,

1990 AA Velserbroek, The Netherlands.

Tel +31 23 541 3740, www.pwntechnologies.nl

Metawater Co Ltd, JR Kanda Manseibashi Bldg.

1–25, Kanda-sudacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0041,

Japan. Tel: +81 3 6853 7343, www.metawater.co.jp

PWN Technologies and Metawater enter strategic alliance

ISSN 0958-2118/13 © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reservedThis journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use:PhotocopyingSingle photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use.

NEWSPWN Technologies and Metawater enter

strategic alliance 1

Water shortage set to boost membrane-based water and wastewater treatment market 1 & 16

EMCOR subsidiary awarded contract to install RO plant in Florida 2

ItN Nanovation close to winning major contract 2

Lanxess launches energy-saving elements, and enhances software 2

Dow’s latest IntegraFlo UF modules reduce system costs 3

Pall uses SEMICON West to unveil its latest technology 4

Qua launches high capacity fractional EDI stack 4

Porvair continues to make progress towards its objectives 5

H2O Innovation awarded contracts amounting to C$4.7 million 5

GE helps plant in Texas reduce its use of water-treatment agents 6

Chemists work to desalt oceans for drinking water, one nanolitre at a time 6

Desalitech secures new funding from Liberation Capital 16

FeaturesHow ‘‘transparent’’ is graphene? 7

Nanoparticles made to order – inside and out 8

Enhancing membrane performance 9

RegularsIn Brief 3 & 5

Research Trends 9

Patents 12

Events Calendar 16

Contents

membrane TECHNOLOGY

ISSN 0958-2118 August 2013 www.membrane-technology.com

Water shortage set to boost membrane- based water and wastewater treatment market

visit us today at:

www.membrane-technology.com�

Membrane-based water and waste-water treatment systems are

gaining interest globally as the most efficient technologies for purification and filtration needs, according to mar-ket research company Frost & Sullivan.

Asia–Pacific, the Americas and Europe are expected to maintain their strong market posi-tion. Asia–Pacific, in particular, will see substan-tial growth fuelled by dynamic industrialisation and population increase.

New analysis from the firm’s ‘CEO 360 Degree Perspective on the Global Membrane-

based Water and Wastewater Treatment Market’ research finds that the market earned revenue of $5.54 billion in 2012 and estimates this will reach $12.07 billion in 2020.

Research and development efforts have led to advancements in membrane filtration. Global water scarcity, owing to a burgeoning popula-tion, rising water pollution and economic development, has added to the demand for membrane-based technologies.

‘New treatment systems are adopting the all-membrane approach, chiefly because of the

Continued on page 16...

27–29 August 201311th MST 2013 – 11th International Conference on Membrane Science and Technology 2013Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaContact: Professor Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), 81310 UTM, Skudai, Johor, MalaysiaTel: +60 7 553 5925, Email: mst2013@utm.com, or Email: infomst2013@gmail.comhttp://mst2013utm.com

1–6 September 2013ECIS 2013 – 27th Conference of the European Colloid and Interface SocietySofia, BulgariaContact: Elena Mileva, Chair of ECIS 2013,Institute of Physical Chemistry, BulgarianAcademy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev Str, bl. 11,Sofia 1113, BulgariaTel: +359 888 194 410, Fax: +359 2 971 26 88Email: ecis13@ipc.bas.bg, http://ecis2013.org

3–7 September 2013EWM 2013 – Engineering with

Membranes 2013: Towards a Sustainable FutureSaint-Pierre d’Oléron, FranceContact: Susana Luque, University of Oviedo, Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Julian Claveria 8, 33006-Oviedo, SpainTel: +34 985 102998, Email: sluque@uniovi.eswww.unioviedo.es/EWM2013

5–7 September 2013CEST 2013 – 13th International Conference on Environmental Science and TechnologyAthens, GreeceContact: Conference Secretariat, Voulgaroktonou Str. 30, GR 11472, Athens, GreeceTel: +30 210 649 24512, Fax: +30 210 649 2499Email: cest2013@gnest.org, http://cest2013.gnest.org

12–13 September 2013Fluoride Removal from Drinking Water: Health and Technology Implications (interdisciplinary research workshop)Arusha, TanzaniaContact: Professor Andrea Schäfer, William

Rankine Building, Room 3.19, The University of Edinburgh, The King’s Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JL, UKTel: +44 131 650 7209, Fax: +44 131 650 6554Email: andrea.schaefer@ed.ac.uk

15–19 September 2013Permea 2013 – 6th Membrane Conference of Visegrád CountriesWarsaw, PolandContact: Marta Bojarska, Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering, Room 183, ul. Wary�skiego 1, 00-645 Warsaw, PolandTel: +48 22 234 64 53 or Tel: +48 22 234 63 10www.permea2013.eu or www.ichip.pw.edu.pl

20–25 October 2013IDA World Congress on Desalination and Water ReuseTianjin, ChinaContact: International Desalination Association,PO Box 387, 94 Central Street, Suite 200,Topsfield, MA 01983, USATel: +1978 887 0410, Fax: +1 978 887 0411Email: info@idadesal.org, www.idadesal.org

EVENTS CALENDAR

CALENDAR/NEWS

16Membrane Technology August 2013

...Continued from front pagegrowing focus on water purity, wastewater reuse and recycling, as well as the implementation of stricter environmental legislation,’ said Frost & Sullivan energy and environment industry ana-lyst Paulina Szyplinska.

‘Municipal and industrial applications – especially desalination plants – have embraced membrane treatment as the most reliable tech-nology for water and wastewater treatment.’

However, membrane technology is consid-ered to be an expensive alternative (also see ‘Chemists work to desalt oceans for drinking water, one nanolitre at a time’ on page 6) to

using conventional systems and is often used only for problematic applications. Its energy-intensive nature contributes to the already-high costs, indicating the need for low-pressure membranes that reduce energy consumption and still provide high-quality treatment.

Easy operation and maintenance, compliance with industry standards, a longer service life, affordability and wider application possibilities are other customer requirements. Moreover, end-user specialisation in membrane separation systems is crucial for significant market growth.

‘Membrane system consumers are now turn-ing their attention to customised membrane

technologies. Therefore, companies employing product differentiation strategies will find themselves better positioned to address challenges and boost market share,’ added Szyplinska.

Contacts:

Frost & Sullivan, 4 Grosvenor Gardens, London

SW1W 0DH, UK. Tel: +44 20 7343 8383,

www.frost.com

Frost & Sullivan, 7550 IH 10 West, Suite 400,

San Antonio, TX 78229-5616, USA

Tel: +1 210 348 1000

Desalitech secures new funding from Liberation Capital

Israeli provider of water treatment products and technology Desalitech

Ltd has announced that it has secured additional $5-million equity funding from Liberation Capital and its insti-tutional investors – increasing the private equity firm’s total investment to $9.5 million and bringing the total amount raised by the company to over $13 million.

Desalitech says these funds (also see Membrane Technology July 2012, page 6) will be used to accelerate its growth and strengthen its position as a leading supplier of high-recovery, low-cost industrial water treatment technology and products.

According to the company, its Closed Circuit Desalination (CCD) technology

is the first major improvement in reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment in decades, lowering costs by 20–60% by increasing water-use efficiency, reducing energy con-sumption, increasing flexibility and reli-ability, and greatly reducing the emission of brine waste. With its unique ability to extract purified water from challenging sources at high recovery rates, CCD products are ideal for industrial water and effluent treatment, agricultural water supply and inland brackish water desalination.

‘Liberation Capital is providing more than just funding. This investment is a vote of con-fidence from experienced water experts that recognise how our proven products can change the economics of water treatment, providing more reliable, cost-effective ways of maximis-

ing the performance of industrial manufac-turing operations,’ said Nadav Efraty, Chief Executive Officer, Desalitech.

Desalitech claims that CCD products rein-vent the RO process by recycling concentrate until a desired recovery level is achieved. Brine is replaced with feed without disrupt-ing the production of treated water and with-out wasting energy.

The firm offers complete systems for sale, or under build–own–operate water-supply arrangements directly to end-users or through international, national and regional partners.

Contact:

Desalitech Ltd, Ramat Aviv Tower, 40 Einstein Street,

Tel-Aviv 69102, Israel. Tel: +972 3 745 6055,

www.desalitech.com