Clean TeQ Water Limited’s (ASX: CNQ) subsidiary NematiQ has achieved commercial scale manufacturing of Graphene Membrane.
Key Highlights
- Over the past five years, NematiQ has developed and proven a patented and innovative layer-by-layer methodology to produce a Graphene Membrane.
- NematiQ has now achieved a major milestone by producing over 1,000m of 1,000mm wide flat sheet Graphene Membrane, at speed, on an industrial roll-to-roll coating machine, confirming Clean TeQ’s ability to manufacture Graphene Membrane at commercial scale.
- The Graphene Membrane has achieved the benchmarks for permeance and rejection, confirming the energy efficient nanofiltration membrane removes contaminants such as dissolved organics.
- The Graphene Membranes will now be converted into spiral wound cartridges. These cartridges (1812, 0.6m2 membrane; 4040, 7.6m2 membrane; 8040, 37m2 membrane) will be incorporated into demonstration treatment plants, the final step before commercial sales of the membranes can begin.
The global market for membrane-based water filtration, including micro, ultra, nano and reverse osmosis, is estimated at more than US$18 billion annually and the addressable market for Graphene Membranes is estimated at USD$5 billion.
Over the years, Clean TeQ Water has invested significant funds in developing a Graphene Membrane for this highly lucrative membrane market.
The development pathway has led to the current stage where we are ready to enter the demonstration and marketing phases.
Direct Graphene Membrane nanofiltration technology is a giant leap forward in producing pure and affordable water. Graphene Membranes are designed to remove bacteria, virus and dissolved organic compounds without removing the salts.
Some of the many benefits of the Graphene Membrane include less energy use, high water recovery and less by-product. Graphene Membranes also have superior anti-fouling properties and so use considerably less chemicals to clean than the commonly used polymeric membranes.
Graphene Membrane nanofiltration has potential applications in many areas of water and wastewater treatment and industrial separations, including treatment of water for drinking, pre-treating seawater prior to desalination, recycling of grey water, treatment of municipal and industrial water for reuse and for separation of high value products, for example, in the food and pharmaceuticals industries.
Demonstration of Graphene Membrane technology is now underway using 1812 cartridge systems in different potential treatment plants around Australia, that readily provide information on the suitability of the membrane for the application.
Demonstration plant using 4040 and 8040 cartridges is expected to begin in May 2022. Further production runs of the Graphene Membrane are scheduled to occur in April and June 2022.
Once the pilots are concluded NematiQ will commence marketing and sales of its membranes which is expected to be a combination of direct sales of membranes modules and systems plus selected commercial and distribution partnerships.
