Nevada-based LiqTech International Inc announced on 5 March 2013 the launch of a new silicon carbide (SiC) flat-sheet membrane (FSM) disc for membrane bioreactors and moving-bed bioreactors for wastewater treatment.
The FSM uses the outside-in filtration principle. This allows either a pressurized mode or a vacuum suction mode of operation which reduces the cost of installation.
With this new expansion of its product portfolio, LiqTech is able to cover a wider spectrum of the market. The LiqTech tubular filter is suited for low-solid content feeds, while the FSM is better suited for higher-solid content applications, and its rotating discs target very high solid content feeds.
The high clean-water permeability of the SiC material, claimed by LiqTech to be around 20 times more permeable than conventional polymeric 0.1 µm ultrafiltration (UF) membranes and 4 times more permeable than a‑Al2O3 0.1 µm UF membranes (competing ceramic material), allows design of compact systems.
LiqTech has entered into cooperation agreements with two system integrators with specific know-how and market access to develop market-driven products with what it believes to be the best value proposition. LiqTech currently expects to generate material revenue from the sales of the FSMs in 2013.