Water Planet intros new membrane filtration technology

PolyCera membrane

Water Planet, a global supplier of high-performance membrane-based water treatment solutions, introduces PolyCera, a membrane filtration technology based on advanced polymeric materials.

“Based on Nobel Prize winning chemistry that was further developed at UCLA and then Water Planet, PolyCera offers exceptional performance characteristics previously found only with ceramic membranes but with a dramatic economic advantage,” said Eric Hoek, Water Planet’s CEO.

Available today as flat sheets or in Water Planet’s proprietary spiral monolith elements, PolyCera membranes extend the range of polymeric membrane filtration to the most challenging applications.

PolyCera membranes offer a unique ceramic-like combination of high hydrophilicity, permeability and robustness, but at 10X to 20X lower cost. Water Planet’s spiral monolith elements leverage PolyCera’s benefits in a ceramic-like cross-flow, back-washable filtration module.

The technology promises OpEx savings up to 40% relative to commodity polymer membranes and 80% relative to ceramic membranes. The result is the first commercial membrane product with ceramic-like performance and polymer-like economics.

Water Planet recently completed a six week pilot test of PolyCera BE-100-XB ultrafiltration (UF) modules to reclaim domestic wastewater for non-potable reuse at remote temporary work camps in south Texas.

The testing validated that the PolyCera UF membranes were able to consistently polish wastewater to meet the standards for direct non-potable reuse with filtrate water quality always less than 1 mg/L TSS, 2 CFUs per 100 mL and 0.1 NTU turbidity.

Moreover, when compared with PVDF UF membranes, PolyCera maintained a much higher sustainable flux, and its permeability was recovered from fouling with half the backwashing and cleaning frequency.

Fouling-resistant, easy-to-clean, highly oleophobic, and exhibiting extreme pH, temperature and oxidant stability, PolyCera BE-100-XB UF modules are ideal for a wide range of applications.

The technology can be applied in tertiary treatment of municipal wastewater; high COD/BOD industrial wastewater water treatment; conventional air and high-purity oxygen membrane bioreactors; chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, dairy, food and beverage process separations; pre-filtration for brackish and ocean water desalination; and municipal-scale to point-of-use drinking water purification.

Rajani Baburajan

[email protected]