Qld company wins funding for innovative desalination

Ceramipore, established by the University of Queensland’s commercialisation company UniQuest, is one of 52 companies nationally, to share $3.6m in this round of Commercialising Emerging Technologies (COMET) funding to help commercialise Australian innovations.
Inventors of the Ceramipore technology have developed a membrane which can be used in an alternative desalination method known as membrane distillation (MD). It uses a new silica-based inorganic membrane distillation process, to reduce the cost of producing clean water from wastewater or seawater.
MD is an alternative desalination process where saline feed water is heated to enhance vapour production, and then exposed to a ceramic membrane, that only permits the water vapour to pass, leaving behind any salt. The vapour is then condensed on the other side of the membrane and collected as fresh water.
Ceramic membranes are a relatively new technology. The key feature is the consistently small size of the membrane pores (less than a nanometre), which allow water molecules to filter through but rejects larger molecules like salt.
Originally intended for gas separation, their potential as a desalination membrane was the result of an investigative student project. The current research group, led by Associate Professor Joe da Costa, from UQ's School of Engineering and the ARC Centre for Excellence in Functional Nanomaterials, is now working with Ceramipore to develop the technology's commercial potential.
Ceramipore director Dr Simon Cashion, said the technology was expected to offer significant cost-savings.
“It operates at an order of magnitude lower in pressure than traditional techniques, which reduces energy intensive pumping costs. The process uses less electrical energy than existing methods and can be powered by low-cost energy sources such as waste heat or solar,” Cashion said.
“The inorganic ceramic-based membranes, are more robust than alternative polymer-based ones, and appear to have characteristics that offer benefits distinct from other materials, which could prove advantageous in certain applications.
“The membrane is more wear-and-tear resistant and can be ‘reconditioned' under a heat treatment to burn off any foreign matter. It is resistant to harsh water treatment chemicals such as chlorine, which would usually break down a polymer membrane.”
UniQuest established Ceramipore to attract and secure the kind of investment needed to accelerate the development of this innovative technology.
UniQuest MD David Henderson said it was an ongoing challenge to find financial support and secure industry partners.
“Early stage research companies need investment to accelerate development and enable them to prove the potential of their technologies. This investment from COMET reflects confidence in the outcomes of UQ research and UniQuest's ability to identify technologies which have significant commercial potential and benefit for both industry and the environment,” he said.
While this grant money will be used primarily for market research and business development activities, including the development of a prototype, UniQuest will continue to provide assistance with identifying further market and investment opportunities. In the meantime, the research team will continue to build expertise in membrane technology for demonstrating the potential of this technology through commissioning and operation of pilot desalination plants.