Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Pitch

Cerahelix develops water purification tech to aid water crisis

By Lynette F. Cornell

Cerahelix Inc.
Headquarters: Orono, Maine
Phone: 207-866-6562
Email: smackay@cerahelix.com
URL: www.cerahelix.com
Founded: 2011
Employees: 6

In the company’s own words:
“At Cerahelix, we are helping solve the world’s water crisis by developing a breakthrough technology in water purification. The helix-NFM is a patent-pending ceramic nanofiltration membrane, which can produce highly purified water under extreme conditions and at low pressure. The UN has stated that by 2030 nearly half the world’s population will be living in areas of water scarcity. The most sustainable way to manage the global supply of fresh water is through water re-use and recycling and the leading water recycling technology is filtration.”

About the technology:
The helix-NFM nanofiltration membrane is a ceramic membrane with nanopores that is suitable for use in treating contaminated water produced during oil and gas exploration. It can also be used in a biorefinery to purify biofuels and can be used to purify water for industries such as the textile industry or paper industry. The membrane works by filtering, using both the physical size of the pores as well as the chemical interactions between the pores and solution components. Cerahelix’s manufacturing process enables the company to create “straight” pores through the membrane layer, which helps the membrane filter faster and use less energy than other membranes, according to CEO Susan MacKay. Because the membrane is made out of ceramic material, it is well suited for purifying solutions at high temperatures or in harsh chemical conditions, said MacKay.

People behind the company:
Susan MacKay, CEO, is also the CEO of Zeomatrix LLC, a water filtration company that she founded in 2006 and that spun out Cerahelix to commercialize its technology. Karl Bishop, CSO, also serves as the chief technology officer at Zeomatrix. Donald MacKay, chief finance officer, is the chief financial officer and chartered financial analyst at Zeomatrix.

The pitch:
The company is seeking $1 million to accelerate product development and conduct pilot testing at customer sites. The company is also looking to partner with larger filtration companies in order to package its product with theirs for the treatment of produced water.

The plan:
The company’s commercialization plan is to produce the helix coating material, a templated ceramic “powder,” which will then be applied to an industry standard support. Cerahelix is currently in early stage discussions with a partner who wants to supply the supports and who has the facilities to coat them. Once coated, the supports can be installed in filtration units in the form of modules, which are bundles of supports typically housed in stainless steel tubes.

Awards and grants:
Susan MacKay has been named a Mass High Tech Woman to Watch for 2011. Cerhelix has received $633,150 in National Science Foundation SBIR Phase 1, Phase 1B and Phase 2 grants.

The market:
The company is pursuing the nanofiltration market, which MacKay said is worth $300 million. It is also looking to tap the into the market for off-shore treatment of produced water, which MacKay said is estimated to reach $4 billion by 2014.

The competition:
The company’s competition includes GE Co.’s Water and Process Technologies unit, Semco Maritime’s SemCoMem water filtration system, Veolia water and the Vibratory Shear Enhanced Process (V-SEP).