Launch announced of new industrial and municipal wastewater company Blue Foot Membranes

Three Flemish investors, QBIC II, LRM and the Innovation Fund, together with Dow Water & Process Solutions, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, have joined forces in a significant initial investment of €2.5 million to launch Blue Foot Membranes NV. Blue Foot Membranes will manufacture and supply membranes for the treatment of industrial and municipal wastewater based on the company's patented Integrated Permeate Channel™ (IPC™) technology.

Blue Foot Membranes was spun out of VITO following decades of research into membrane technology, which will be used for the production of membrane bioreactors for the treatment of industrial and municipal wastewater.

The IPC™ technology comprises an integrated permeate channel consisting of an open 3D spacer fabric with an upper and lower fabric surface. The membrane layers are coated directly on the upper and lower fabric surfaces to form a membrane envelope, whereby the membrane layers are well anchored in the fabric surface. This allows for efficient cleaning and rigorous backwashing of the membrane. The 3D spacer serves as mechanical anchoring for the membrane and avoids delamination during backwashing and serves as a permeate extraction channel.

These fully back-washable flat sheet membranes can be installed in existing as well as new membrane bioreactors. It is claimed that IPC™ membranes increase the output capacity per square metre by 100% and lower the aeration cost by at least 50% compared to MBRs equipped with conventional filtration membranes.

Patrick Vanschoubroek, Managing Director of Blue Foot Membranes^® said, 'The team of Blue Foot Membranes^® is ready to demonstrate the benefits of these unique IPC™ membranes. We are convinced that IPC™ membranes are a game changer for industrial as well as domestic wastewater treatment plants.'