The aim of the project was to confirm, at demonstration scale, the cost effectiveness of Clean TeQ’s continuous ion exchange process to remove hardness from highly saline brines to increase the recovery rates of subsequent membrane systems and thus improve water recoveries for recycling and reduce the volume of polluting waste brine.

During the demonstration project Clean TeQ’s mobile demonstration unit treated reverse osmosis (RO) filtration brine continuously for two weeks, consistently removing hardness (Calcium and Magnesium) down to zero to allow the subsequent second step RO to significantly increase water recovery.

The demonstration program treated wastewater from a large coal-to-chemical refinery, producing DME (Dimethyl Ether) owned by Jiutai located about 100 km from Hohhot, China. The process requires large volumes of industrial grade water, putting a strain on sources of water supply in this water-scarce region. The demonstration program confirmed that increasing water recovery by adopting Clean TeQ’s CIF® system could substantially reduce the plant’s net water use.

Successful completion of this campaign provides a valuable demonstration of yet another application for the Clean TeQ water technology in addition to the commercial scale plants currently nearing completion in Australia, Oman and DRC. Over the coming months, the Company plans to expand this marketing and technology demonstration campaign by deploying the mobile CIF® unit to other facilities in China which have similar issues as Jiutai with a view to generating additional sales.