Aquaporin sucessfully completed phase 1 for low-energy reverse osmosis membrane development

Recently we successfully completed Phase I of our R&D project in Singapore: Development and Test-bedding of Energy-Saving Aquaporin Inside® Reverse Osmosis Membrane Technology for NEWater and Seawater Desalination Applications.

Aquaporin Asia, subsidiary of Aquaporin Group based in Singapore, entered this R&D project in March 2019. It is a three-year research and development project, supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore, and PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agencyunder Urban Solutions & Sustainability (CRP(Water) RFP 1801 <PUB-1801-0014>) with a grant of 2.5 million SGD.

Improving energy efficiency is a key area of interest for PUB, given Singapore’s growing dependence on energy-intensive treatment processes to meet Singapore’s rising water demand. Today, Singapore has developed weather-resilient sources - desalinated water and NEWater (a high-grade reclaimed water) to complement its local catchment and imported water, but they are also energy-intensive water sources.

This running project aims to develop high performance low-energy brackish reverse osmosis membranes (LE-BWRO) and low-energy seawater reverse osmosis membranes (LE-SWRO) powered by Aquaporin Inside® Technology. Since 2019, Aquaporin Asia has made significant breakthrough in development of LE-BWRO and LE-SWRO in lab-scale. The membranes have passed our in-house application tests with actual MBR permeate and pre-treated seawater, and deemed to be more energy-efficient. Following the success of Phase I, we will scale up the membrane production and test-bed the full-size modules on-site in PUB’s facilities.

“NEWater and seawater desalination processes are energy-intensive but strategically important for Singapore’s water supply. I am proud that our Aquaporin Inside® Technology could contribute to the society by reducing the energy consumption and making the water treatment process more efficient. I look forward to seeing our pilot system running on-site and demonstrating the energy-saving in a real work environment.”says Guofei Sun, Deputy Manager, Aquaporin Asia.