Membrane & Separation Technology News articles from September 2005

Membrane & Separation Technology News archives from September 2005

MEMBRANE BIOREACTORS: Airlift Process Expected to Cut Costs.
September 1, 2005... CeraMem Corp. is developing an airlift membrane bioreactor process using the companys monolithic honeycombed ceramic membrane elements that could have capital costs equivalent to that of polymeric membrane-based MBRs and operate at a cost 20%,...

REVERSE OSMOSIS: Texas Opting for Seawater Source.
September 1, 2005... It seems likely that Texas will join Florida, and global participants such as Spain, Saudi Arabia and Israel, in constructing large volume coastal RO plants to desalinate seawater for the states rising water needs. At The Future of...

ULTRAFILTRATION: Purite Plants Designed for Colloids Removal.
September 1, 2005... UK-based Purite, a subsidiary of Ondeo Industrial Solutions (Suez) has launched a range of new UF systems capable of handling flow rates from 1,300 gallons per hour to 26,000 gallons per hour. The new systems are specifically designed for the...

NANOFILTRATION: Assessing Reuse for the Textile Industry.
September 1, 2005... As part of the European Commissions TOWEF0 (TOWards EFfluent zero) project, a team of Italian, Spanish, French and Belgian researchers has completed an analysis of membrane technology for recycling textile-finishing wastewaters. After testing...

BIOMEDICAL & BIOMEMBRANE: Nanopore Responds to UV, Visible Light.
September 1, 2005... Using a well-known Escherichia coli channel protein, researchers in The Netherlands have created a switchable nanopore in a synthetic lipid membrane that opens and closes in response to light. The scientists say the membrane-bound nanovalve...

CollaRx in Development as Adhesion Barrier.
September 1, 2005... Innocoll, Inc. subsidiary Innocoll Technologies will collaborate with Surgical-IOC to develop an adhesion barrier based on Innocolls CollaRx membrane technology. The biocompatible, bioresorbable film, comprised of purified type I native...

GAS SEPARATION: Converting Garbage to Hydrogen Gas.
September 1, 2005... StarTech Environmental Corp. is nearing successful completion of a demonstration project for the DOE to generate hydrogen from municipal solid waste, and coal. The process uses StarTechs Plasma Converter System to convert the garbage into...

Pd Alloy Films Separate Mixed Gas Streams.
September 1, 2005... Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists are developing a cost-effective method for manufacturing self-supporting palladium (Pd) alloy membranes that separate hydrogen from mixed gas streams generated in coal gasification. The increased...

MATERIALS: Lipid Multilayers Used as Molds.
September 1, 2005... Scientists at Lausanne Polytechnic are using multilayered phospholipid membranes as molds for the precise, high-yield production of one-dimensional cadmium chloride nanowires. The light-conducting nanostructures are expected to be important...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Blog Follows Automation of Biotech Process.
September 1, 2005... Cascade Controls, Inc. is working with Control Engineering magazine to produce a weekly blog that highlights the automation of two membrane processes at a North American biopharmaceutical plant. According to Cascade, the web log is believed to...

Koch to Equip Army Purifiers.
September 1, 2005... MECO, manufacturer of the Armys new Lightweight Water Purification units (LWPs), has selected Koch Membrane Systems (KMS) Romipure hollow fiber UF membranes and Fluid Systems TFC spiral wound RO elements for use in the portable treatment unit....

CALENDAR.(Calendar)
September 1, 2005... October 29-November 2, WEFTEC 05, Washington Convention Center, Washington DC, Contact: Water Environment Federation, 601 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314-1994 Tel: 800/666-0206, Tel: 703/684-2452, Fax. 703/684-2492 October 30-November...

ACQUISITIONS/JOINT VENTURES.
September 1, 2005... 3M Completes CUNO Acquisition. 3M (St. Paul, MN) has completed the acquisition of CUNO Inc. (Meriden, CT) after CUNO shareholders voted in favor of the all cash transaction for $72 per share. The transaction will combine CUNOs expertise in...

AWARDS.
September 1, 2005... Ultipleat Wins Wafer Processing Award. At SEMICON West 2005, Solid State Technology magazine presented an Attendees Choice Best Cost-of-Ownership Award to Pall Corp.s (East Hills, NY) Ultipleat ME Filter. The filter combines a crescent-shaped...

MARKETING.
September 1, 2005... FilmTec Offering Online Ordering. FilmTec Corp. (Minneapolis, MN), a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, is introducing eFILMTEC.com, an Internet-based channel for directly purchasing FilmTec elements. The new site allows for convenient,...

FINANCIAL.
September 1, 2005... Hoku Begins Trading on Nasdaq. In August, Hoku Scientific, Inc. (Honolulu, HI) launched its initial public offering of 3,500,000 shares of common stock at $6.00 per share. Hoku designs, develops and manufactures non-fluorinated membranes and...

PROJECTS.
September 1, 2005... Suez Inks Agreements for Two SWRO Plants. Suez Degrmont division has won two seawater RO desalination plant contracts. Minera Escondida Limitada, Chiles second largest copper producer/exporter is spending $28 million for the desig and...

PRODUCTS.
September 1, 2005... Instrument Offers New Test Options. Millipore Corp. (Billerica, MA) has launched Integritest 4, the companys latest filter integrity test instrument for biopharmaceutical manufacturers. Developed and validated according to GAMP, Good Automated...

PATENTS.
September 1, 2005... Bipolar Product Needs Less Voltage. Solvay (Brussels, Belgium) scientists have patented a process for manufacturing robust bipolar membranes that require only moderate voltage to dissociate water. In the production method, the cationic membrane...

RESEARCH.
September 1, 2005... Approaches to More Stable Ionic Liquid Membranes. Room temperature ionic liquids are low-melting temperature salts with numerous potential industrial applications. Several recent studies have examined using ionic liquids in gas separations,...

COMMENTARY Are Water Reuse Economics Viable?
September 1, 2005... With water scarcity a reality in many parts of the world, and a useable supply that diminishes each year, the reuse of treated wastewater is a large and growing practice. In the U.S., an estimated 1.7 billion gallons per day of wastewater is...

INDUSTRY INSIGHT: Fresh Water from Old Oil Fields; Can It Be Done?
September 1, 2005... By David Burnett, Director of Technology, Texas A&M University, Global Petroleum Research Institute, Department of Petroleum Engineering, College Station, TX 77843; Tel: 979/845-2274, Fax: 979/862-7407, email: burnett@pe.tamu.edu In early...

Options for Desalination.
September 1, 2005... Based on almost five years testing, the A&M desalination program has found that reverse osmosis membrane desalination is the most effective technology available for produced water desalination. First, water pre-treatment for RO systems is...

Description of Technology.
September 1, 2005... The peculiarities of oil field brine, that is its provenance, content, volume and sources combine to make RO desalination of this byproduct unique. The A&M processes we have developed are different in three main ways. Pre-Treatment. The...

Field Trials.
September 1, 2005... McFaddin Ranch Field Trial. The mobile desalination unit is slated for a field trial at McFaddin Texas at the Rio Vista Bluff Ranch. Fresh water from oil field brine will be used to maintain wetlands and preserve habitat for migratory species...

What's Next?
September 1, 2005... So what can we do with all this water? Rather than focusing on supplying water to municipalities, we believe the most promising applications are industrial use, agricultural use such as livestock watering, and special environmental applications...