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July 2013 Membrane Technology3
I n B r i e f
TSWRC appoints new general managerThe Toray Singapore Water Research Center (TSWRC) has appointed Masahiro Henmi as its new general manager. Shoichiro Goto, Deputy General Manager, TSWRC, retains (on a full-time basis) the position he currently holds. The centre – which has been run by Dr Tadahiro Uemura since it was established in August 2009 – was set up at the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute of Nanyang Technological University with the aim of con-ducting research and development of water treat-ment technology based on Toray’s membranes.
Sartorius Stedim Biotech admitted to SBF 120 indexSartorius Stedim Biotech Sa, which sup-plies products to the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sector, has been admitted to the SBF 120 index of Euronext Paris, the French stock exchange. The SBF 120 index is composed of the 120 most active stocks on the Paris stock exchange, that is, the 40 com-ponents of the CAC 40 index plus 80 stocks quoted on Euronext Paris.
Expansion project set to begin on Koch Industries’ headquartersExpansion work on US-based Koch Industries Inc’s headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, is moving forward with the company recently announcing that it has hired Hutton Construction along with its partner GE Johnson as construction manager for the project. In December 2012 Koch confirmed that it would expand its 95 226-m2 (1 025 000-ft2) Wichita headquar-ters on 37th Street North between Oliver and Hillside. The project includes the construction of a new 19 510-m2 (210 000-ft2) office build-ing that will be situated on the northwest side of the campus. It will have three stories plus a lower level, and the capacity to accommodate 745 employees. Koch Membrane Systems Inc is a subsidiary of Koch Chemical Technology Group Llc, which is part of Koch Industries.
Davis Controls distributes Parker Hannifin’s Balston productsThe Filtration and Separation Division of Parker Hannifin Corp has appointed Davis Controls Ltd, based in Oakville, Ontario, as the exclusive distributor for its Balston brand-ed industrial filtration products in Western Canada, covering the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and Yukon. Parker’s Balston range includes mem-brane, compressed-air and sample filters, and nitrogen gas generation systems.
More information:www.daviscontrols.com, www.parker.com/balston
The membrane meets, or exceeds, a 0.2-μm filtration challenge and meets the ASTM F838-05 standard for bacterial retention. This material is ideally suited to applications in the medical, life sciences, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries, and can be used for the filtration of liquids or gases in applications where cleanliness and the removal of bacteria is critical. It is also being used in various industry developments within the aerospace sector and new energy research.
The filter is designed to be used in applica-tions that require ultra-fine, sub-micron filtra-tion. It is made of stainless steel or titanium and is capable of achieving extremely efficient levels of filtration and separation (exceeding 7 LRV at 0.2 μm), says the firm. It is bio-com-patible, impervious to solvents, and compatible with most organic compounds and complex drug chemistries.
Mott says its sintered porous metal products are currently being integrated into various ‘‘implantable’’ devices, such as filters that are used to prevent plugging of catheters in drug-delivery devices; as bacteria filters in medical instrumentation; as sparging devices for cell-culture processing; and as flow-restrictor devices used for gas delivery in life-critical systems.
Contact:
Mott Corp, 84 Spring Lane, Farmington, CT 06032,
USA. Tel: +1 860 747 6333, www.mottcorp.com
Pentair provides DMF process train for plant upgrade in Australia
Pentair X-Flow has been awarded a contract to deliver a direct mem-
brane filtration (DMF) process train for use in Pilbara Clearwater Alliance’s upgrade of Water Corp’s South Hedland and Karratha wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) based in Western Australia.
The project has two stages that will increase water production to 6 million litres (1.6 mil-lion gallons) per day at each site in 2013 and 10 million litres (2.6 million gallons) per day in 2014.
The ultimate objective of these upgrade pro-jects is to produce high-quality water for reuse in sensitive local applications. To achieve this requires an effective and robust polishing step capable of handling secondary treated wastewa-ter stored in shallow lagoons, and treating it to the target standard, says Pentair X-Flow.
The Water Corp/Tenix Alliance that is responsible for delivery of the upgraded plants identified several operational and treatment challenges, including the remote location of the site and highly elevated algae levels (in excess of 9 million cell counts/ml).
Pentair X-Flow worked closely with the alli-ance to develop the DMF process concept, which is an application of the firm’s Aquaflex high solids (HS) tubular membranes, which enables ultrafiltration of lagoon storage water. This process also includes coarse (2 mm) pre-screening.
To test the technology, Pentair helped install a small Aquaflex HS system at the Karratha WWTP. Its operation and optimisation over a three-month period demonstrated that the pro-cess on which this system is based, in combina-tion with UV, met the Alliance’s requirement for high-quality filtrate (7.5-log removal of viruses and complete removal of algae and other solids), and stable and robust operation while filtering challenging feed-water.
Contacts:
X-Flow Bv, Marssteden 50, 7547 TC Enschede,
The Netherlands. Tel: +31 53 428 7350, www.x-flow.com
Pentair Ltd, 5500 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 800,
Minneapolis, MN 55416, USA. Tel: +1 763 545 1730,
www.pentair.com
Dow launches Filmtec ECO and residential water filtration elements
Dow Water & Process Solutions (DW & PS) has launched a range of
energy-efficient Filmtec reverse osmo-sis (RO) elements. The business unit of Dow Chemical Co has also recently introduced two new Filmtec residential water filtration elements.
Dow describes its Filmtec ECO RO ele-ments as next-generation membrane technology that facilitates lower energy usage and reduced regeneration costs for industrial plants. These elements combine new membrane chemistry and low dP feed spacers to help deliver notably lower energy costs and reduced chemical con-sumption when RO is followed by a mixed-bed ion-exchange unit.
Offering exceptional rejection and low-energy consumption (99.7% at 150 psi), they are designed to deliver up to 40% lower salt passage using up to 30% less energy, compared with standard RO elements, says the firm. They are
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offered in ECO-400i and ECO-440i configura-tions to match RO needs on a broad spectrum.
‘Plants that switch from conventional reverse osmosis elements to Filmtec ECO join a unique population of thriving facilities that have less impact on the environment and less strain on their bottom line,’ commented Rajat Mehta, Global Product Director, DW & PS.
In other news, Dow has introduced two new Filmtec residential water filtration elements that are designed to remove contaminants and impurities from household water systems.
They help remove contaminants that can lead to health risks, and reduce impurities such as calcium, magnesium and iron. With a stabilised salt rejection rate of 99% at 284 litres (75 gallons) per day and 98% at 379 litres (100 gallons) per day, in stand-ard sizes (1812 configuration), the BW-60-1812-75 and TW30-1812-100HR home drinking-water elements instantly produce premium water.
The 75-GPD element uses new membrane chemistries developed by Dow, which have been customised to maximise performance. These elements offer a balance of flow and high rejection – producing more water at 20% high-er flow-rates, under standard test conditions, than other similar products that are currently available, claims the firm.
Contacts:
The Dow Chemical Co, Dow Water & Process Solutions,
Customer Information Center, PO Box 1206, Midland,
MI 48642-1206, USA. Tel: +1 989 636 9086,
www.dowwaterandprocess.com, www.dow.com
Membrana-Charlotte expands distribution networks in Turkey and Thailand
Membrana-Charlotte, a division of Celgard Llc of Charlotte, North
Carolina, USA, and part of Polypore, has signed two agreements, expanding its distribution networks in Turkey and Thailand.
It has entered into an exclusive agreement with Ökotek Çevre Teknolojisi ve Kimya San Ltd �ti covering the sale and support of its Liqui-Cel membrane contactors in Turkey. This agreement enables Membrana’s new and estab-lished customers to receive rapid support from a local company.
Chad Schuchmann, who is vice president of Membrana’s Liqui-Cel membrane contactor operations, commented: ‘Membrana continues
to focus on expanding distribution in regional growth markets with companies that have prov-en technical expertise in water treatment and an established customer network.’
‘An agency agreement with Ökotek fits well with our distribution growth plans and the company possesses the technical knowledge to sell and support our Liqui-Cel contactor products.’
Membrana-Charlotte has also entered into an exclusive agency agreement with Sriarayathep Co Ltd. The move establishes a distribution chan-nel in Thailand for its Liqui-Cel contactors, and similarly provides customers with a local repre-sentative to handle service and support.
‘This agreement aligns with our strategy to expand our distribution and presence in South-East Asia. It also enables us to take advantage of Sriarayathep’s considerable knowledge of the local market for new business opportunities,’ continued Schuchmann.
Liqui-Cel contactors are modular and com-pact, and can achieve very low dissolved gas outlet concentrations. Membrana says they are rapidly replacing older de-aeration technologies as the product of choice in the power-gener-ating, semiconductor, hydrocarbon, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, analytical and bio-technology sectors, and many other industries. They also operate cleanly and require a smaller footprint than other technologies.
Thousands of microporous hollow-fibres are incorporated into these contactors, which add (or remove) oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other gases to (or from) differ-ent liquids. In operation, liquid flows across the membrane hollow-fiber array. A strip gas or vacuum, either separately or in combina-tion, is applied to the lumen side of the fibres. Because of its hydrophobic nature, the mem-brane acts as an inert support to allow direct contact between a gas and liquid phase with-out dispersion. The dissolved gas in the liquid travels through the pore structure by applying a higher pressure to the liquid stream relative to the gas stream.
Contacts:
Membrana-Charlotte, 13800 South Lakes Drive,
Charlotte, NC 28273, USA. Tel: +1 704 587 8888,
www.liquicel.com
Ökotek Çevre Teknolojisi ve Kimya San Ltd �ti,
Deposite �� Merkezi A1 Blok. Kat 3 No 313–314 �kitelli
OSB, 34306 �kitelli, Istanbul, Turkey.
Tel: +90 212 671 91 58, www.okotek.com.tr
Sriarayathep Co Ltd, 399/75 Prachachuen Road,
Jatujak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
Tel: +662 585 1344,
Email: [email protected]
Pall celebrates sale of thousandth Oenoflow system to the wine industry
US filtration, separation and puri-fication company Pall Corp has
announced the sale of its thousandth Oenoflow filtration system to the wine industry.
The system protects wine characteristics while significantly reducing winery operating costs. It also alleviates environmental concerns associated with traditional processing methods that use diatomaceous earth (DE) and basic depth, sheet filtration.
Introduced in 1998, the Oenoflow system has become the global standard for wine clari-fication with installations in over 30 different countries representing every major wine pro-ducing region of the world, says Pall.
‘Pall developed the Oenoflow system to eliminate the use and disposal of filter aids like DE and provide operational benefits that include reductions in wine loss, utility usage and labour,’ said Jonathan Pratt, President, Pall Food & Beverage and Laboratory.
‘Receiving our thousandth Oenoflow system order is a notable milestone. It represents sig-nificant change in wine production worldwide during the last decade and is a strong testament to the benefits of our technology.’
Oenoflow systems have streamlined the wine-making process by replacing the combined DE and sheet filtration operations with a single pro-cess step. Clarification is achieved without the use of filter aids, centrifugation or interference with the organoleptic components of the wine. Using high area, hollow-fibre microfiltration membranes, the systems efficiently remove sus-pended solids, yeast and bacteria that can affect the quality of wine. As an automated system, minimal labour is required during operation, significantly reducing winery costs.
The thousandth system was ordered by California-based Sutter Home Winery Inc, DBA Trinchero Family Estates – the fourth largest winery in the USA.
‘In a competitive environment, wineries are under pressure to increase production yields and ensure quality, whilst satisfying increasingly strin-gent environmental and food safety requirements. Pall’s Oenoflow systems are a proven means to help wineries achieve these goals,’ concluded Pratt.
Contact:
Pall Corp, 25 Harbor Park Drive, Port Washington,
NY 11050, USA. Tel: +1 516 484 5400, www.pall.com
Membrane Technology July 2013
