- Email: [email protected]
Doha wastewater recycling facility employs Toray UF membranes
NEWS/IN BRIEF laboration, including Pennsylvania State University. The project was one of 16, funded recently as part of the $37-million DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Integration and Optimization of Novel IonConducting Solids programme, which aims to pave the way for technologies that overcome the limitations of current battery and fuel-cell products. Michael Hickner, associate professor of materials science and engineering, chemical engineering and chemistry, is the Pennsylvania State University co-principal investigator on the project. He is working with Michael Yandrasits at 3M Co, based in St Paul, Minnesota, who is the principal investigator, and Bryan Pivovar, co-principal investigator from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, Colorado. With a goal of developing a new anionexchange membrane technology that can be applied to fuel cells, electrolysers, flow batteries and other energy conversion devices, the researchers will evaluate new concepts in anion exchange membranes with low-cost polymer backbones and novel cations. They will focus on commercially-scalable polymers that are stable in a basic environment and meet the ARPA-E requirements for resistance, stability, mechanical properties and cost. ‘This important university, industry, government laboratory collaboration has the potential to move the field forward in new anion-exchange membranes,’ commented Hickner. ‘There is not a strong consensus in the field on how to scale up these materials, so we hope to bring new insights to the community through this work.’ The researchers will eventually manufacture small quantities of the chosen polymers in 3M’s pilot-scale coating equipment and test them in devices. Contacts: US Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, USA. Tel: +1 202 586 5000, https://energy.gov 3M Co, 3M Center, St Paul, MN 55144, USA. Tel: +1 651 733 1110, www.3M.com The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 121 Steidle Building University Park, PA 16802, USA. Tel: +1 814 865 9857, www2.matse.psu.edu/fac/hicknergroup National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO 80401, USA. Tel: +1 303 275 3000, www.nrel.gov
March 2017
Aquaporin sets up first full-scale production plant at its headquarters
G
lobal cleantech company Aquaporin A/s has set up its first full-scale production plant at its headquarters in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. The plant will enable the company to substantially expand production capacity in 2017, and scale up existing and new Aquaporin Inside products. It will initially focus on the production of tap water reverse osmosis (TWRO) Aquaporin Inside membranes. After many years of building on a strong research and development base – whilst also establishing strategic commercial partnerships, the large-scale production facilities not only mark a major achievement for the Aquaporin Group, but it is also a demonstration of confidence in the market potential of the Aquaporin Inside membranes. Peter Holme Jensen, CEO, Aquaporin, commented: ‘The new production facilities represent a significant milestone ahead of worldwide market entry. Our product portfolio offers solutions to a wide range of applications for several segments in the water purification industry. It is crucial that we are now able to supply Aquaporin Inside products in large quantities to the market – this will be a major focus for the entire Aquaporin Group in 2017.’ Aquaporin moved into its current premises in 2016, where it has a total area of 7300 m2 (78 577 ft2), including research laboratories, offices and now a full-scale production plant to meet customer demands. In parallel with commissioning full-scale production in Denmark, the company’s joint venture in China, Aquapoten, has launched Aquaporin TWRO modules for use in household water purifiers (see Membrane Technology February page 3). Contact: Aquaporin A/s, Nymøllevej 78, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. Tel: +45 82 30 3082, www.aquaporin.dk
Doha wastewater recycling facility employs Toray UF membranes
J
apan’s Toray Industries Inc reports that it recently received an order from French company Suez
In Brief Project significantly reduces fabric-dyeing company’s reliance on drinking water In the USA, Tri-Star Dyeing and Finishing Inc of Santa Fe Springs, is working with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) on a mutually beneficial programme that saves time, money and, most importantly, water. The company is installing a water recycling system at its facility with the help of nearly $700 000 in incentives from MWD. Instead of discharging its wastewater, the company will treat it using microfiltration and reverse osmosis and reuse it in the dyeing process. Metropolitan board chairman Randy Record said: ‘It is a win-win-win – Tri-Star saves money, we conserve a lot of water, and the environment is protected from polluted discharge.’ Evoqua Seacure system receives DNV GL Type approval certification International certification body and classification society DNV GL has assessed and granted Type approval certification to Evoqua Water Technologies for its Seacure ballast water management system (BWMS). Matt Granitto, the business manager for ballast water treatment at Evoqua, said: ‘This certificate is a benchmark standard for marine equipment that will provide assurance to our customers as to the quality and safety of the Seacure BWMS.’ Suez builds plant in Rosarito, Mexico French company Suez Environnement, and its partners, have been selected to design, equip, operate and finance a desalination plant in the municipality of Playas de Rosarito, Mexico, to address the issue of water stress in the region. Building work will start in 2017, with a view to producing almost 190 000 m3 of drinking water per day within three years. In the second phase of the project, set to start from 2019, the facility will aim to double its output of drinking water by 2024, reaching a total capacity of 380 000 m3 per day. NCHL acquires Memsys Towards the end of 2016, New Concepts Holdings Ltd (NCHL), an investment holding company based in Hong Kong, China, acquired all the assets and the IPs of Memsys. NCHL says that it is planning to take advantage of the combination of ‘R & D in Germany and engineering in China’ to support business growth of Memsys worldwide.
Membrane Technology
5
NEWS Environnement for its Torayfil hollowfibre ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. They are to be used in one of the world’s largest wastewater recycling facilities in Doha, Qatar – an extension of Doha West Sewage Treatment plant, named Extension No. 5. According to Toray, this facility is the largest water processing facility to use Torayfil UF membranes. Until now the company has been focusing on supplying reverse osmosis (RO) membranes to large-scale water treatment facilities in the Middle East for sea-water desalination and wastewater recycling. It says that it is now also responding to the need to improve water infrastructure in the region through the use of UF membrane products. Under the order placed by Qatar-based Public Works Authority, which is in charge of the public infrastructure business of the country, the facility will be constructed and operated by Suez and Japan’s Marubeni Corp. After proposing the use of a membrane-based purification system, called SmartRack, which it configured as the core of the facility, Suez compared and reviewed various UF and microfiltration (MF) membranes produced by bestin-class membrane manufacturers. It says that it selected Toray’s membranes because of their performance, in terms of their durability and ability to ensure water quality required for recycling, and the cost of public wastewater recycling. The facility will collect sewage from households in Doha and use conventional biological processes to produce wastewater that complies with at least secondary treatment standards. The biologically treated wastewater will be then further treated using Torayfil UF membranes to produce irrigation water. Qatar, which has minimal underground water, is pursuing many desalination and reuse projects in order to address not only drinking water needs, but also the rising needs of agriculture. In pursuing this, the country has been actively introducing membrane filtration, instead of, or in addition to, conventional rapid filtration using sand. Membrane-based UF systems enable pathogenic microorganisms to be removed from water, whilst being easy to operate and manage. In the future, UF systems are expected to be introduced for use in large-scale desalination projects in addition to reuse applications, says Toray. Contact: Toray Industries Inc, Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, 1–1, Nihonbashi-Muromachi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-8666, Japan. Tel: +81 3 3245 5111, www.toray.com
6
Membrane Technology
E-commerce supports growth of laboratory filtration equipment market
T
he global laboratory filtration equipment market is expected to reach $3.08 billion by 2020 – growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 8%, according to a report compiled and released by Technavio Research. This study, entitled ‘Global Laboratory Filtration Equipment Market 2016–2020’, provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. The size of the global laboratory filtration market is estimated by the revenue generated through the sales of filtration media, filtration assemblies and accessories sold at their retail prices. Technavio says that the rapid growth of the e-commerce industry over the past few years has led to a whole new world of opportunities for laboratory consumables manufacturers on supply and expansion. With almost 35% of global sales and orders of laboratory products coming through e-commerce retailers, this channel has certainly contributed to the growth of the global laboratory filtration market over the past few years. The global e-commerce industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 15% over the next five years. E-commerce has enabled manufacturers to cater to new regions and has also simplified distribution. This trend is expected to make the market more accessible for vendors. Technavio analysts categorise the global laboratory filtration equipment market into four major segments by technology – microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), reverse osmosis (RO) and other. The MF segment includes products such as MF capsules, modules, cassettes and cartridges. The major end-users of this technology include the pharmaceuticals sector, biopharmaceuticals manufacturing, and the food and beverage, textile and semiconductor industries. The increasing investments in pharmaceuticals research and manufacturing will ensure a steady rise in the demand for MF technologies between 2015 and 2020, says the report. Amber Chourasia, a laboratory equipment analyst from Technavio, commented: ‘Furthermore, microfiltration plays a key role in water treatment in research and in manufacturing facilities. With growing emphasis on water quality and more stringent water quality legislation, the need for microfiltration is bound to increase during the forecast period. Water treatment in laboratories has grown into a new offering segment for most of the large manufacturers in this market.’
Compared with MF, UF is a relatively new technology segment in the market place, and is still in its nascent stage, says Technavio. This technology finds applications in scientific research, diagnostic and haemodialysis. The largest end-user is the biotechnology sector. This technology is yet to reach the cost-effective adoption scale, compared with MF, and is therefore relatively more expensive as an investment to be employed on a commercial scale. The UF market in 2015 was collectively dominated by GE Healthcare and Siemens – accounting for over 72% of the overall market revenue. With the UF market becoming more vertically integrated, particularly in the USA, the technology as a whole is likely to become more affordable and gain a faster adoption rate during the forecast period, reaching a year-over-year growth of 8.52% by the end of 2020, compared with 8.42% for MF during the same period. The major applications for RO filtration technology include water purification, medical diagnostics and desalination. Technavio says that this segment will witness rapid growth because of consumers’ increasing awareness of health and safety, particularly in the area of water purification. APAC is expected to be primary growth driver and source of demand for RO filtration technology during the forecast period. This also includes water treatment in pharmaceuticals manufacturing facilities as well as laboratories and testing facilities. ‘Water contamination has been a major issue in APAC because of increasing environmental deterioration, occasional floods, high level of soil erosion and an increase in pollution levels. Hence, the availability of clean water has been on the decline over the past decade, and the demand for water treatment is at an all-time high in this region, added Chourasia. ‘The growing need for water purification in this region translates into a growing demand for reverse osmosis filtration technology, and this will, in turn, drive the growth of this segment.’ The top vendors highlighted by Technavio’s research analysts in this report are: sä sä sä sä sä
-ä0URIFICATION '%ä(EALTHCARE -ERCKä+GA! 3ARTORISä!GäAND 4HERMOä&ISHERä3CIENTIFIC
Contacts: Technavio Research, 8 Wimpole Street, London W1G 9SP, UK. Tel: +44 208 123 1770, www.technavio.com Technavio Research (North America Sales & Marketing), 110 E. Schiller, #208, Elmhurst, IL 60126, USA. Tel: +1 630 333 9501, Email: [email protected]
March 2017
March 2017
Aquaporin sets up first full-scale production plant at its headquarters
G
lobal cleantech company Aquaporin A/s has set up its first full-scale production plant at its headquarters in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. The plant will enable the company to substantially expand production capacity in 2017, and scale up existing and new Aquaporin Inside products. It will initially focus on the production of tap water reverse osmosis (TWRO) Aquaporin Inside membranes. After many years of building on a strong research and development base – whilst also establishing strategic commercial partnerships, the large-scale production facilities not only mark a major achievement for the Aquaporin Group, but it is also a demonstration of confidence in the market potential of the Aquaporin Inside membranes. Peter Holme Jensen, CEO, Aquaporin, commented: ‘The new production facilities represent a significant milestone ahead of worldwide market entry. Our product portfolio offers solutions to a wide range of applications for several segments in the water purification industry. It is crucial that we are now able to supply Aquaporin Inside products in large quantities to the market – this will be a major focus for the entire Aquaporin Group in 2017.’ Aquaporin moved into its current premises in 2016, where it has a total area of 7300 m2 (78 577 ft2), including research laboratories, offices and now a full-scale production plant to meet customer demands. In parallel with commissioning full-scale production in Denmark, the company’s joint venture in China, Aquapoten, has launched Aquaporin TWRO modules for use in household water purifiers (see Membrane Technology February page 3). Contact: Aquaporin A/s, Nymøllevej 78, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. Tel: +45 82 30 3082, www.aquaporin.dk
Doha wastewater recycling facility employs Toray UF membranes
J
apan’s Toray Industries Inc reports that it recently received an order from French company Suez
In Brief Project significantly reduces fabric-dyeing company’s reliance on drinking water In the USA, Tri-Star Dyeing and Finishing Inc of Santa Fe Springs, is working with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) on a mutually beneficial programme that saves time, money and, most importantly, water. The company is installing a water recycling system at its facility with the help of nearly $700 000 in incentives from MWD. Instead of discharging its wastewater, the company will treat it using microfiltration and reverse osmosis and reuse it in the dyeing process. Metropolitan board chairman Randy Record said: ‘It is a win-win-win – Tri-Star saves money, we conserve a lot of water, and the environment is protected from polluted discharge.’ Evoqua Seacure system receives DNV GL Type approval certification International certification body and classification society DNV GL has assessed and granted Type approval certification to Evoqua Water Technologies for its Seacure ballast water management system (BWMS). Matt Granitto, the business manager for ballast water treatment at Evoqua, said: ‘This certificate is a benchmark standard for marine equipment that will provide assurance to our customers as to the quality and safety of the Seacure BWMS.’ Suez builds plant in Rosarito, Mexico French company Suez Environnement, and its partners, have been selected to design, equip, operate and finance a desalination plant in the municipality of Playas de Rosarito, Mexico, to address the issue of water stress in the region. Building work will start in 2017, with a view to producing almost 190 000 m3 of drinking water per day within three years. In the second phase of the project, set to start from 2019, the facility will aim to double its output of drinking water by 2024, reaching a total capacity of 380 000 m3 per day. NCHL acquires Memsys Towards the end of 2016, New Concepts Holdings Ltd (NCHL), an investment holding company based in Hong Kong, China, acquired all the assets and the IPs of Memsys. NCHL says that it is planning to take advantage of the combination of ‘R & D in Germany and engineering in China’ to support business growth of Memsys worldwide.
Membrane Technology
5
NEWS Environnement for its Torayfil hollowfibre ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. They are to be used in one of the world’s largest wastewater recycling facilities in Doha, Qatar – an extension of Doha West Sewage Treatment plant, named Extension No. 5. According to Toray, this facility is the largest water processing facility to use Torayfil UF membranes. Until now the company has been focusing on supplying reverse osmosis (RO) membranes to large-scale water treatment facilities in the Middle East for sea-water desalination and wastewater recycling. It says that it is now also responding to the need to improve water infrastructure in the region through the use of UF membrane products. Under the order placed by Qatar-based Public Works Authority, which is in charge of the public infrastructure business of the country, the facility will be constructed and operated by Suez and Japan’s Marubeni Corp. After proposing the use of a membrane-based purification system, called SmartRack, which it configured as the core of the facility, Suez compared and reviewed various UF and microfiltration (MF) membranes produced by bestin-class membrane manufacturers. It says that it selected Toray’s membranes because of their performance, in terms of their durability and ability to ensure water quality required for recycling, and the cost of public wastewater recycling. The facility will collect sewage from households in Doha and use conventional biological processes to produce wastewater that complies with at least secondary treatment standards. The biologically treated wastewater will be then further treated using Torayfil UF membranes to produce irrigation water. Qatar, which has minimal underground water, is pursuing many desalination and reuse projects in order to address not only drinking water needs, but also the rising needs of agriculture. In pursuing this, the country has been actively introducing membrane filtration, instead of, or in addition to, conventional rapid filtration using sand. Membrane-based UF systems enable pathogenic microorganisms to be removed from water, whilst being easy to operate and manage. In the future, UF systems are expected to be introduced for use in large-scale desalination projects in addition to reuse applications, says Toray. Contact: Toray Industries Inc, Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, 1–1, Nihonbashi-Muromachi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-8666, Japan. Tel: +81 3 3245 5111, www.toray.com
6
Membrane Technology
E-commerce supports growth of laboratory filtration equipment market
T
he global laboratory filtration equipment market is expected to reach $3.08 billion by 2020 – growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 8%, according to a report compiled and released by Technavio Research. This study, entitled ‘Global Laboratory Filtration Equipment Market 2016–2020’, provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. The size of the global laboratory filtration market is estimated by the revenue generated through the sales of filtration media, filtration assemblies and accessories sold at their retail prices. Technavio says that the rapid growth of the e-commerce industry over the past few years has led to a whole new world of opportunities for laboratory consumables manufacturers on supply and expansion. With almost 35% of global sales and orders of laboratory products coming through e-commerce retailers, this channel has certainly contributed to the growth of the global laboratory filtration market over the past few years. The global e-commerce industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 15% over the next five years. E-commerce has enabled manufacturers to cater to new regions and has also simplified distribution. This trend is expected to make the market more accessible for vendors. Technavio analysts categorise the global laboratory filtration equipment market into four major segments by technology – microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), reverse osmosis (RO) and other. The MF segment includes products such as MF capsules, modules, cassettes and cartridges. The major end-users of this technology include the pharmaceuticals sector, biopharmaceuticals manufacturing, and the food and beverage, textile and semiconductor industries. The increasing investments in pharmaceuticals research and manufacturing will ensure a steady rise in the demand for MF technologies between 2015 and 2020, says the report. Amber Chourasia, a laboratory equipment analyst from Technavio, commented: ‘Furthermore, microfiltration plays a key role in water treatment in research and in manufacturing facilities. With growing emphasis on water quality and more stringent water quality legislation, the need for microfiltration is bound to increase during the forecast period. Water treatment in laboratories has grown into a new offering segment for most of the large manufacturers in this market.’
Compared with MF, UF is a relatively new technology segment in the market place, and is still in its nascent stage, says Technavio. This technology finds applications in scientific research, diagnostic and haemodialysis. The largest end-user is the biotechnology sector. This technology is yet to reach the cost-effective adoption scale, compared with MF, and is therefore relatively more expensive as an investment to be employed on a commercial scale. The UF market in 2015 was collectively dominated by GE Healthcare and Siemens – accounting for over 72% of the overall market revenue. With the UF market becoming more vertically integrated, particularly in the USA, the technology as a whole is likely to become more affordable and gain a faster adoption rate during the forecast period, reaching a year-over-year growth of 8.52% by the end of 2020, compared with 8.42% for MF during the same period. The major applications for RO filtration technology include water purification, medical diagnostics and desalination. Technavio says that this segment will witness rapid growth because of consumers’ increasing awareness of health and safety, particularly in the area of water purification. APAC is expected to be primary growth driver and source of demand for RO filtration technology during the forecast period. This also includes water treatment in pharmaceuticals manufacturing facilities as well as laboratories and testing facilities. ‘Water contamination has been a major issue in APAC because of increasing environmental deterioration, occasional floods, high level of soil erosion and an increase in pollution levels. Hence, the availability of clean water has been on the decline over the past decade, and the demand for water treatment is at an all-time high in this region, added Chourasia. ‘The growing need for water purification in this region translates into a growing demand for reverse osmosis filtration technology, and this will, in turn, drive the growth of this segment.’ The top vendors highlighted by Technavio’s research analysts in this report are: sä sä sä sä sä
-ä0URIFICATION '%ä(EALTHCARE -ERCKä+GA! 3ARTORISä!GäAND 4HERMOä&ISHERä3CIENTIFIC
Contacts: Technavio Research, 8 Wimpole Street, London W1G 9SP, UK. Tel: +44 208 123 1770, www.technavio.com Technavio Research (North America Sales & Marketing), 110 E. Schiller, #208, Elmhurst, IL 60126, USA. Tel: +1 630 333 9501, Email: [email protected]
March 2017