- Email: [email protected]
Publications show promise of improved artificial lung devices
NEWS which was built by the company in 2000. The existing system produces 15 141 m3 (4 million gallons) of drinking water a day, and will be increased to 18 927 m3 (5 million gallons), with the addition of three reverse osmosis (RO) trains treating brackish water. This expansion will benefit the cities of Bonita, Chula Vista, and National City, which are all strongly affected by the drought in California. Furthermore, the City of Arkansas in Kansas has also contracted the company to replace its existing lime-softening system used for the production of drinking water. A new four-train RO system will be installed to produce 11 356 m3 (3 million gallons) of drinking water from groundwater. The production of this system is preceded by a 45-day piloting period to validate the treatment scheme. Finally, the company is designing, manufacturing, delivering and commissioning a new membrane bioreactor system that is to be installed in Quebec, Canada. This wastewater system, comprising three trains, will treat 196 m3/day (36 gallons per minute) of wastewater. This is an important opportunity for H2O Innovation since this project enables it to introduce, for the first time in Quebec, one of its green wastewater technologies. Contact: H2O Innovation Inc, 420 Boulevard Charest Est, Suite 240, Québec City, Québec, Canada G1K 8M4. Tel: +1 418 688 0170, www.h2oinnovation.com
Osmoflo continues to support Santos’ water treatment needs
A
ustralian desalination company Osmoflo Pty Ltd has secured a contract for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a water treatment facility for its long-standing client Santos, to support its operations around Narrabri in North West New South Wales (NSW). Santos is seeking to develop the Narrabri Gas Project, which is an important energy resource and has the potential to supply up to half of the natural gas currently used in NSW. The water treatment plant will enable it to continue its exploration and appraisal programme, whilst providing opportunities for beneficial reuse of the water extracted from underground coal seams. The Osmoflo plant will be constructed on a Santos property near Narrabri where the water is currently stored in double-lined ponds. 6
Membrane Technology
Osmoflo is providing Santos with all onsite services. These include civil design and construction activities, the supply and installation of pipelines and extraction pumps, on-site power generation, the water treatment plant, and the operation and maintenance of the plant itself. The plant is designed for a wide range of feed-water. It is based predominantly on membrane-based technology for filtration and desalination to produce 1 million litres per day of high quality treated water suitable for irrigation, as implemented widely in the Queensland coal-seam gas industry. Osmoflo’s Brine Squeezer technology (see Membrane Technology December 2014, page 2) will be used for the project – reducing the amount of concentrated brine. This patented process, which has the ability to operate at efficiencies not achievable using conventional technologies, was developed by the firm’s research and development team in collaboration with the National Centre for Excellence in Desalination (NCEDA) and various academic institutions. Osmoflo started developing this technology more than seven years ago and received its first patent on the process over three years ago.The stand-alone system can be added to almost any RO system by simply using the existing RO reject as feed to the Brine Squeezer. ‘The Narrabri Gas Project is an important project for Santos, and New South Wales industry in general. Santos has been a valued client of Osmoflo’s for over 20 years – with this contract to support operations near Narrabri being a continuation of this ongoing relationship,’ explained Marc Fabig, Managing Director, Osmoflo. ‘This is an excellent demonstration of Australian water technology development that can convert difficult water sources into a rich resource that can have multiple and sustaining benefits for the community.’ Contact: Osmoflo Pty Ltd, 382 Diment Road, Burton, 5110, South Australia, Australia. Tel: +61 8 8282 9700, www.osmoflo.com
Publications show promise of improved artificial lung devices
A
Lung Technologies Inc, a US provider of low-flow extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R)
technologies for treating patients with acute respiratory failure, has announced the publication of new data by University of Pittsburgh researchers on two technologies it has previously licensed from the university. These technologies, which help enhance the performance of artificial lung devices, were developed by Dr William Federspiel, Professor of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, and his team in the Medical Devices Laboratory of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Dr Federspiel is also a co-founder of ALung Technologies. Artificial lung devices are used to support patients with lung failure. They work by passing a patient’s blood over an artificial membrane, which removes CO2 and delivers oxygen to the blood independently of the native lung. Whilst today’s artificial lung technology is very good, a clinical need still exists for more efficient, minimally invasive devices. The new techniques developed by Dr Federspiel use a combination of two biochemical approaches that work synergistically to more than double the rate of CO2 removal across the artificial lung membrane. The work of Dr Federspiel’s team was recently published in the journals Acta Biomaterialia (Volume 25, 1 October 2015, pages 143– 149) and the Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine (June 2015, 26(6), 193). ALung’s licence agreement with the University of Pittsburgh for this new technology includes two pending patent applications. ‘These novel technologies fit nicely within our broader intellectual property portfolio of methods for enhancing gas exchange,’ commented Peter DeComo, Chairman and CEO, Alung Technologies. ‘The continued refinement of these techniques, as highlighted in the new publications, help pave the way for the future development of more effective artificial lung devices for the millions of patients with acute and chronic lung failure. We offer Dr Federspiel and his team our congratulations on their most recent publications.’ ALung’s Hemolung Respiratory Assist System, a minimally invasive extracorporeal CO2 removal system for treating patients with acute respiratory failure, also incorporates technology licensed from the University of Pittsburgh. Contact: ALung Technologies Inc, 2500 Jane Street, Suite 1, Pittsburgh PA 15203, USA. Tel: +1 412 697 3370, www.alung.com
December 2015
Osmoflo continues to support Santos’ water treatment needs
A
ustralian desalination company Osmoflo Pty Ltd has secured a contract for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a water treatment facility for its long-standing client Santos, to support its operations around Narrabri in North West New South Wales (NSW). Santos is seeking to develop the Narrabri Gas Project, which is an important energy resource and has the potential to supply up to half of the natural gas currently used in NSW. The water treatment plant will enable it to continue its exploration and appraisal programme, whilst providing opportunities for beneficial reuse of the water extracted from underground coal seams. The Osmoflo plant will be constructed on a Santos property near Narrabri where the water is currently stored in double-lined ponds. 6
Membrane Technology
Osmoflo is providing Santos with all onsite services. These include civil design and construction activities, the supply and installation of pipelines and extraction pumps, on-site power generation, the water treatment plant, and the operation and maintenance of the plant itself. The plant is designed for a wide range of feed-water. It is based predominantly on membrane-based technology for filtration and desalination to produce 1 million litres per day of high quality treated water suitable for irrigation, as implemented widely in the Queensland coal-seam gas industry. Osmoflo’s Brine Squeezer technology (see Membrane Technology December 2014, page 2) will be used for the project – reducing the amount of concentrated brine. This patented process, which has the ability to operate at efficiencies not achievable using conventional technologies, was developed by the firm’s research and development team in collaboration with the National Centre for Excellence in Desalination (NCEDA) and various academic institutions. Osmoflo started developing this technology more than seven years ago and received its first patent on the process over three years ago.The stand-alone system can be added to almost any RO system by simply using the existing RO reject as feed to the Brine Squeezer. ‘The Narrabri Gas Project is an important project for Santos, and New South Wales industry in general. Santos has been a valued client of Osmoflo’s for over 20 years – with this contract to support operations near Narrabri being a continuation of this ongoing relationship,’ explained Marc Fabig, Managing Director, Osmoflo. ‘This is an excellent demonstration of Australian water technology development that can convert difficult water sources into a rich resource that can have multiple and sustaining benefits for the community.’ Contact: Osmoflo Pty Ltd, 382 Diment Road, Burton, 5110, South Australia, Australia. Tel: +61 8 8282 9700, www.osmoflo.com
Publications show promise of improved artificial lung devices
A
Lung Technologies Inc, a US provider of low-flow extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R)
technologies for treating patients with acute respiratory failure, has announced the publication of new data by University of Pittsburgh researchers on two technologies it has previously licensed from the university. These technologies, which help enhance the performance of artificial lung devices, were developed by Dr William Federspiel, Professor of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, and his team in the Medical Devices Laboratory of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Dr Federspiel is also a co-founder of ALung Technologies. Artificial lung devices are used to support patients with lung failure. They work by passing a patient’s blood over an artificial membrane, which removes CO2 and delivers oxygen to the blood independently of the native lung. Whilst today’s artificial lung technology is very good, a clinical need still exists for more efficient, minimally invasive devices. The new techniques developed by Dr Federspiel use a combination of two biochemical approaches that work synergistically to more than double the rate of CO2 removal across the artificial lung membrane. The work of Dr Federspiel’s team was recently published in the journals Acta Biomaterialia (Volume 25, 1 October 2015, pages 143– 149) and the Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine (June 2015, 26(6), 193). ALung’s licence agreement with the University of Pittsburgh for this new technology includes two pending patent applications. ‘These novel technologies fit nicely within our broader intellectual property portfolio of methods for enhancing gas exchange,’ commented Peter DeComo, Chairman and CEO, Alung Technologies. ‘The continued refinement of these techniques, as highlighted in the new publications, help pave the way for the future development of more effective artificial lung devices for the millions of patients with acute and chronic lung failure. We offer Dr Federspiel and his team our congratulations on their most recent publications.’ ALung’s Hemolung Respiratory Assist System, a minimally invasive extracorporeal CO2 removal system for treating patients with acute respiratory failure, also incorporates technology licensed from the University of Pittsburgh. Contact: ALung Technologies Inc, 2500 Jane Street, Suite 1, Pittsburgh PA 15203, USA. Tel: +1 412 697 3370, www.alung.com
December 2015