Rick Stover, whose exit from Energy Recovery Inc (ERI) was announced last week, joined Oasys, the developer of Engineered Osmosis™ systems for desalination, energy and resource recovery, as vice- president of engineering, on 19 January 2010.
As chief technical officer for REI, Stover led the successful development and commercial launch of the Pressure Exchanger™, which has since become the leading energy-recovery device for seawater reverse osmosis desalination. At Oasys, Stover will lead the company’s engineering, product development and commercialization efforts.
Oasys’s patented Engineered Osmosis(EO) platform utilizes membranes and low- grade heat, instead of electricity, to drive osmosis processes such as desalination. EO achieves the same standard of potable quality water produced in reverse osmosis (RO), without the costly high-pressure equipment requirements.
Oasys is initially focused on implementing its solutions in areas with water scarcity, such as the Mediterranean region, to create new sources of water and energy with improved resource sustainability.
“Rick’s successful track record of commercializing a disruptive energy-recovery technology in the water treatment and desalination markets makes him an ideal fit for Oasys,” said Aaron Mandell, Oasys CEO. “Our commercial strategy has taken shape and will benefit greatly from Rick’s previous accomplishments as these products represent another step towards further reducing the energy consumption and environmental footprint of desalination and water recovery.”
“This is the most exciting technology platform I have seen in many years as it opens the door to a host of new membrane treatment products utilizing osmosis,” said Stover. “EO is a very efficient way of recovering energy rejected from low-grade waste heat sources and it has the potential to be a major step-change for the industry.”