Local Tech Gets Exclusive License (NM-Water purification)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | April 29, 2006 | Andrew Webb

[CedarDave]

Albuquerque's Altela Inc. has been granted exclusive rights to use Arizona State University-developed water purification technology worldwide.

The deal with Arizona Technology Enterprises LLC means that Altela can use it to remediate industrial waste-water and seawater and for a wealth of other water purification needs, said Altela CEO Ned Godshall.

The company previously had rights only to sell such services and products to the oil and gas industry for cleanup of brackish "produced" water at well sites.

The license "will now accelerate our plans to commercialize this exciting and elegant technology for all water applications," Godshall said in a news release.

The fledgling company, which has raised more than $3 million in venture capital, recently doubled in size in order to begin large-scale production of its truck container-size AltelaRain devices, which remove salt, organic material and other impurities from produced water. It recently completed a beta test of the system and expects to begin shipping the first of these devices to oil and gas producers this summer.

Godshall, in an interview, said the new, broader license would allow the company to explore other uses, such as water used at power plants, in industrial processes, and even for the production of potable water from seawater.

The technology will "provide a low-cost option to purify water in regions where identifying sources of fresh water is challenging," said ASU president Michael Crow.

The system, called "dewvaporation," was originally developed by James Breckman, a professor at Arizona State University in Tempe. It is licensed through Arizona Technology Enterprises LLC, a company that works with ASU and Northern Arizona University to help spin out technology and create companies using technology developed at those institutions.

Altela will be one of 18 presenters in this year's Technology Ventures Corp. Equity Capital Symposium, to be held in May.

[CedarDave]

An earlier article tells a little more about the process and its application, but details, of course, are proprietary. The thing that impressed me is that the biggest independent oil producer in the SW has embraced the technology as a partial solution to disposal of production water. If indeed its application lives up to its promise, it will be applied to other industrial and municipal wastewater cleanup.

Duke City Firm Is Developing Devices to Desalinate and Purify 'Produced Water'

(The ABQ Journal is once again free though you have to watch a 30-second commercial before you get linked to the article)

[TexasTransplant]

Also info here http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=AZTRIBAZ.story&STORY=/www/story/04-27-2006/0004349135&EDATE=Apr+27,+2006


and here
http://www.altelainc.com/products/index.asp

TT

[CedarDave]

This unique water purification technology removes 100 percent of the dissolved salts and other contaminants from industrial waste waters and undrinkable brackish waters found throughout the world - representing the first new low-cost water desalination technology in the last 50 years.

Interesting. I would certainly like to know the details, especially how they handle petroleum organics dissolved in water (BTEX) and H2S.

[CedarDave]

Meant to punch state AZ vs. AK for topics. Sorry.

[thackney]

I once worked on the installation of a produced water filtration system that used crushed pecan shells.