Ceramic Silicon Carbide Membranes for Liquid Filtration
Under the “LiqTech”, “Cometas” and “Provital”
brand names, we manufacture and sell ceramic silicon carbide membranes and systems
for liquid filtration using our patented silicon carbide technology (“SiC
Filters”) that currently focus on hydrocarbon production-derived contaminated
water, which we refer to herein as “produced water”, removal of
heavy metals in mining and energy applications, pre-filtration for reverse osmosis
in drinking water and industrial applications. Our SiC Filters have been used
in the following applications by our clients: Produced water: Our membranes
can be used for the filtration of "produced" water – a byproduct
from oil and gas production. The amount of produced water varies between 0.1
to ten times the amount of oil produced. We have performed testing with many
of the major international private and public oil and gas companies. We have
been awarded a contract by one of the major international oil and gas companies
to provide and service produced water filters on one of its offshore platforms.
Two additional commercial installations have been commissioned with the LiqTech
membranes. Pre-filtration of reverse osmosis drinking water: Prior to passing
through reverse osmosis membranes to produce drinking or industrial water from
sea or surface water, the sea or surface water must be pre-filtered. We have
performed successful tests for the pre-filtration of sea and surface water for
this purpose with numerous clients, including Synertech in Serbia, a supplier
of drinking water, Arteron in Malaysia, a company producing compact drinking
water solutions, Hoimyung Corp in South Korea, a supplier of industrial waste
water systems and pretreatment for reverse osmosis. Industrial applications:
Our membranes have performed successful tests in industrial applications for
the removal of a variety of substances such as heavy metal (Energy provider,
Germany), specific heavy metals for European mining company, manure (Bioffuel
Technology, Denmark), pool and spa water (Provital, Denmark) and raw sugar (Al
Khaleej Sugar, UAE). We have supplied membranes to these applications and additional
membranes are currently in the tendering phase. Producing clean drinking water:
The potential for the use of LiqTech SiC membranes in drinking water production
is diverse and the benefits are numerous. Some examples include: ground water
– removal of precipitated salts such as iron and manganese; surface water
– removal of organic suspended solids and humic acid; and sea water –
pre-filtration before reverse osmosis. We have entered into a cooperation agreement
with the leading pump producer Grundfos to market a newly developed water treatment
unit for ground water. Waste water treatment: Our membranes can be used to remove
suspended solids in waste water treatment. Our membranes have performed successful
tests for treating waste water with Imtech (Egypt), RIPE (China) and Asia Pacific
Water Technologies (South Korea), and we have sold membranes for several commercial
installations.
Our products are based on the following silicon carbide membrane technologies:
CoMem is a unique patented membrane technology that utilizes a cross-flow structure
to handle high concentrations of suspended solids found in produced water from
the oil and chemical industry, wastewater from industrial processes and manure
filtration; and Aqua Solution integrates a dead-end structural design with cutting-edge
membrane technology in a solution specifically designed for applications in
pre-treatment for reverse osmosis, wastewater treatment and pool and spa filtration.
Our filters are manufactured with a silicon carbide ceramic membrane based on
a patented technology, and we are not aware of any other company that makes
both the substrate (honeycomb) and the membrane (the part which accomplishes
the filtering) solely from silicon carbide.
The advantages of our SiC membranes compared to other pre-filtration systems
for reverse osmosis are: Our SiC membranes offer the same water flow as commonly
used sand filters which take up to 400 times more space and have pore sizes
at least three times bigger than our SiC membranes, and reduce the number of
membrane elements and pressure vessels; With our SiC membranes, high flow capacities
are achieved at very low pressures, which reduces energy costs;
Our SiC membranes reduce water consumption for sand filter backwash; and
Our SiC membranes eliminate consumption/maintenance of cartridges.
Diesel Particulate Filters
We offer diesel particulate filters (“DPF”) for exhaust emission
control solutions to the verified retrofit and the original equipment manufacturer
(OEM) market through our direct sales force. DPF sales are generally made to
distributors specializing in sales to end users. We use a proprietary “nano
washcoat” to provide catalytic coating for anything from diesel particulate
filters to catalytic converters. We have developed a robust silicon carbide
diesel particulate filter that is especially useful for vehicles that produce
a high soot load, and, if properly maintained, should last as long as the vehicle’s
engine. Our DPFs are ideal for off-road vehicles because of their strength,
chemical non-reactive nature, temperature resilience and thermal conductivity.
Our DPF products are sold worldwide, under the LiqTech brand name.
Our silicon carbide filters can handle higher soot loads than filters that do
not use a silicon carbide membrane, which makes them ideal for situations in
which engines infrequently reach high enough temperatures to burn off soot.
Examples include: Garbage trucks;
Port vehicles;
Diesel pickup trucks not carrying a full load;
Off-road construction vehicles that idle for long periods of time; and
Intra-city vehicles that do not reach highway speeds.
Kiln Furniture
Kiln furniture refers to all items used in a kiln to support ceramics that create
additional space to maximize the number of items for each firing. Our high-quality
SiC kiln furniture is thinner (allowing more items to be added for each firing),
withstands higher heat, lasts longer and reduces the firing time (reducing energy
costs) as compared to cordierite, mullite and oxide bonded kiln furniture.