NanoH20

Since the development of the first commercial RO membranes, the focus has been on lowering the cost of RO seawater desalination. And the cost of desalination has dwindled dramatically in the last 10 years. This thanks to the ingenuosity of membrane developers. The cost of RO membranes has decreased. But synthetic RO membranes have a major drawback: they tend to foul. The membranes get clogged by particles, salts and bateria. Their life span is be... More >>

Since the development of the first commercial RO membranes, the focus has been on lowering the cost of RO seawater desalination. And the cost of desalination has dwindled dramatically in the last 10 years. This thanks to the ingenuosity of membrane developers. The cost of RO membranes has decreased. But synthetic RO membranes have a major drawback: they tend to foul. The membranes get clogged by particles, salts and bateria. Their life span is between 3 to 5 years. <br /> <br /> Also RO desalination is an energy intensive process. The energy cost makes up to 35% of the total cost to desalt seawater. A major breakthrough to lower the energy consumption was the development of energy recovery devices. Today the energy requirement to desalt 1m³ of seawater is about 3 kWh.<br /> <br /> Nanotechnology promises to solve the above problems and render desalination even more affordable:<br /> - The membranes will be less prone to fouling. The lifespan of the membranes would be longer.<br /> - The nanostructure of the membranes will lower the energy required to push the water molecules through the membranes.<br /> <br /> Hence the potential for seizable cost reduction. Nanotechnology membranes could well disrupt the water desalination market. The underlying business concept is sound and the product is undoubtly original and innovative.<br /> <br /> The customers would certainly be willing to buy a technology that lowers the cost of desalination. By now, everybody has heard of the looming water crisis. The demand for desalination is spurred by the booming demand for clean and affordable water. This is driven by the growth of mega cities and the increase of the standard of living in emerging economies.<br /> <br /> The target market is clear and well definied. It includes the vast global market for RO membranes for applications ranging from seawater desalination to waste water reuse. The market is therefore sufficiently large and in some parts of the world it present double digit growth.<br /> <br /> In summary the market and the products and sound and value propostion is strong. We believe that the time to market is 3-4 years from now. Meanwhile other technologies may emerge and compete with nano RO membranes. One such technology is membrane distillation developed by a Dutch consortium. <br /> <br /> At this stage we do not have sufficient data to appreciate the quality of the management team. We don't know if it reasonably alligned with the market and products. We don't know enough about the motivation of the team. This reviewa also lacks data about the IP status of teh technology. << Less

<p> <p class="MsoNormal">Approximately 70% of the earth&rsquo;s surface is water covered, yet the situation of water scarcity is still getting worse in this world due to population growth, urbanization and increasing water usage. <span style="">&nbsp;</span><span style="">&nbsp;</span>For this reason, it has not been a short time since people have dreamed of making u... More >>

<p> <p class="MsoNormal">Approximately 70% of the earth&rsquo;s surface is water covered, yet the situation of water scarcity is still getting worse in this world due to population growth, urbanization and increasing water usage. <span style="">&nbsp;</span><span style="">&nbsp;</span>For this reason, it has not been a short time since people have dreamed of making use of seawater into our day to day activities. NanoH2O is such an innovator who combines nanotechnology with traditional water purification process to improve the productivity and feasibility of transforming seawater into clean drinking water.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The basic idea is simple but significant; the technology enhances current device (osmosis membrane) performance by adding nanostructured particles which allows additional control of membrane properties instead of using extra facilities and equipments. <span style="">&nbsp;</span><span style="">&nbsp;</span>This helps to increase filtering efficiency by lowering the energy consumption of desalinization process and reducing the size and producing costs in each plant. The membrane and nano material they choose is also smart enough that it is not only selectively permissive but more important inhibit the adhesion of bacteria cells (traditionally this process leads to extra chemical additives and energy consumption). <span style="">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Yet a great idea does not guarantee a success, in my observation, there are still several technical issues that the company needs to deal with in order to outshine from those giant competitors like GE.</p> <ol> <li><!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->The <strong>chosen of materials</strong>, it is necessary to consider if this nano structured material is easy to get or prepared, and if the material is recyclable and endurable, this is important especially when the cost of basic materials preparation is high.</li> <li><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style=""><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span>The <strong>incorporation</strong> of the nano particles into the system, since we are under a micro and nano scale, thus the behavior of the particle is dominated by quantum size effect, this calls an extra attention on fabrication process (chemical, physical or sputtering) as different preparing methods or any change in synthesis conditions will vary enormously on fabrication costs and final membrane qualities.</li> <li><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style=""><span style=""><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span>The last point I will emphasize that if this device is easy to be <strong>scaled up</strong>, since designed nano particles are going to be deposited onto the membrane, it is important to ensure both the quality of ultimate membrane and its feasibility in industrialized scaling up, this is crucial for the technique to be employed in industry, especially in this specific area where the filtering of water requires a large accessible membrane area at one time.</li> </ol> <p class="MsoNormal">In general, the innovative concept of combining multifunctional nano particles into water purification devices is fantastic, yet the practice of this plan might not seem as easy as how you picture it, in addition to the character of nano material which is strongly related to its size and fabricating process, the feasibility of systems scaling up for massive water supply must also be taken into account for prospective application of this technology.</p> << Less