A DKK 45 million (US$ 8 million) development platform has been launched in Denmark to explore and demonstrate the potential of industrial-scale biomimetic separation and sensor applications.
Aquaporin A/S and the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation announced on 17 December 2012 that the DKK 90 million (US$ 16 million) project would be titled Industrial Separation & Biosensing Processes Inspired By Nature.
Aquaporin is joining forces with industrial market-leading companies DSS A/S, Arla Foods amba and Dupont, and world-class academic partners from the Danish universities in Copenhagen, Lyngby and Aalborg.
The platform will accelerate Aquaporin’s development projects for a large variety of applications such as wastewater volume reduction, peptide concentration, fertigator production and, in the longer term, biorefinery and drug screening.
Arla Foods provides an industrial example of the use of Aquaporin Inside™ membranes. The platform will be looking at how to reduce the level of small organic molecules in dairy wastewater.
“By using the technology on dairy process water streams, the load on our water cleaning units will decrease significantly”, says Thorfinn Thordarson, senior project manager of Arla Foods amba.
Aquaporin Inside™ membranes will not only improve the quality of water extracted but also reduce the cost of extracting water.