Hyflux will develop the hydrophilic filtration technology for use in its water treatment products globally.
The technology covers a polymer coating that transforms a standard stainless steel or plastic mesh into a highly effective filter that allows water to pass through while retaining oily components. The gravity-driven filtration process is both affordable and scalable, allowing it to work in situations ranging from separating the liquid mix of oil and water often found in contaminated water scenarios to recovering oil spills after tanker or oil platform accidents.
Professor Dayang Wang from UniSA’s Ian Wark Research Institute said the technology could separate oil and water at very low pressures. “The mesh filters are produced through an easily accessible coating process, which allows large-scale production,” he said.
Exclusive license
“ITEK has patented the intellectual property behind this hydrophilic filtration technology in three discrete areas, firstly for water treatment; secondly for oil spillage remediation and, thirdly, to decontaminate industrial waste,” said ITEK CEO Dr Stephen Rodda. “Hyflux has licensed the first of these patents and we are already in discussion with organisations regarding the other two. While Hyflux has signed an exclusive global licence, it is specifically to use the technology for purposes of water treatment,” he said.
