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Industry news
Filtration+Separation March/April 2015
Koch Membrane to supply Puron system for drinking water plant expansion in Brazil In 2014, the Brazilian plant installed and started-up the first ultrafiltration drinking water system in South America to use Koch Membrane Systems’ Puron HF membranes. This new project is designed to double the treatment capacity of the plant’s existing ultrafiltration system from 23 MGD (3600 m3/hr) to 46 MGD (7200 m3/hr).
The Puron 1500, from Koch Membrane Systems.
Koch Membrane Systems Inc is to provide its Puron HF (High Flow) reinforced hollow fibre ultrafiltration system to expand the Alto da Boa Vista drinking water plant in São Paulo, Brazil. The ETA Eng Rodolfo José da Costa e Silva drinking water treatment plant produces drinking water using conventional technology (coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, sand filtration and chlorine disinfection) for a population of more than five million people.
“Given the ongoing drought conditions in São Paulo and other areas of Brazil, the availability of safe drinking water for the growing population is a critical issue for the city and the country as a whole,” explained Sergio Ribeiro, Koch Membrane Systems’ commercial director for South America. “At the same time as demand is increasing, so are the requirements for water quality. Concurrently, water treatment facilities are forced to draw on more challenging raw water sources. Given this combination of challenges, the Puron reinforced hollow fibre with its high solids tolerance and robust operations capability is an ideal solution," added Ribeiro. www.kochmembrane.com
Ovivo divests UK municipal business Canada’s Ovivo Inc has sold its UK municipal division to Jacopa Ltd, a newly-created company owned by some members of the local management team. “The sale of our United Kingdom municipal division is another important step taken to restructure our operations and focus exclusively on our core water treatment markets, namely www.filtsep.com
the Electronics, the Municipal in North America and the Energy,” said Marc Barbeau, president and CEO of Ovivo. Led by Alex Lloyd, Ovivo’s vice president, UK Municipal, Jacopa will focus on the municipal wastewater sector in the UK and Ireland. www.ovivowater.com
Clarcor buys Filter Resources Group Clarcor Inc has acquired Filter Resources Inc, Filtration Inc and Fabrication Specialties Inc, three related US companies that manufacture and distribute filters to the petrochemical and refining industries mainly in the Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana regions. Filter Resources Group has annual revenue of approximately US$20 million and will be part of Clarcor’s PECOFacet group of companies, which is included within Clarcor’s Industrial/Environmental Filtration segment. Christopher Conway, Clarcor’s chairman, president and CEO, said: “Filter Resources is a long-time distributor of PECOFacet products with local manufacturing capabilities and strong customer relationships throughout the Gulf Coast region earned through their timely order fulfillment and excellent customer service. We look forward to leveraging these strengths to allow PECOFacet to better support the petrochemical and refining markets, markets which have unique and demanding filtration needs.”
PECOFacet is based in Mineral Wells, Texas and is a marketer and manufacturer of engineered filtration housings, cartridges and other filtration products for use primarily in oil & gas, aviation, marine and life sciences applications, sold in domestic and international markets. Scott Thompson, PECOFacet’s president, said: “The vision for PECOFacet that we’ve consistently communicated in recent years is to maintain our market leadership in natural gas and aviation fuels, go where the growth is, leverage technology and new products and increase our liquid filtration business. This acquisition is a perfect fit with that vision. Filter Resources’ expertise in the oil & gas downstream refining and petrochemical markets, along with their strong customer relationships and quick response aftermarket manufacturing, mesh perfectly with our existing capabilities, as well as our vision for the future.” www.clarcor.com www.filterresources.com www.pecofacet.com
3M to purchase Polypore’s Separations Media business in US$1bn deal 3M Co has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Polypore International Inc’s Separations Media business for US$1.0 billion. Polypore’s Separations Media business (Membrana) provides microporous membranes and modules for filtration in the life sciences, industrial and specialty segments. The business had trailing 12-month sales of US$210 million at 27 September 2014. “Polypore’s Separations Media business is an outstanding business that will expand our opportunities in many large and attractive segments,” said Inge Thulin, 3M chairman, president and CEO. “The acquisition of this ultrafiltration membrane technology will enhance 3M’s core filtration
platform and help generate new growth opportunities across the company.” “The combination of 3M and Polypore’s Separations Media business will help us to meet customers’ emerging needs for high-value filtration solutions,” said Michael Roman, executive vice president, 3M Industrial Business Group. “Together, we will be able to offer a broader array of products to both Polypore’s and 3M’s customers, which will accelerate the global growth of our membrane business.” Separately, Japan’s Asahi Kasei Corp is buying Polypore International’s Energy Storage business. www.polypore.net www.3M.com
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