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PORIFERA, INC.

Address

1575 ALVARADO ST
SAN LEANDRO, CA, 94577-2640
USA

UEI: ZUYHMWHK2QD3

Number of Employees: 25

HUBZone Owned: No

Woman Owned: No

Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No

SBIR/STTR Involvement

Year of first award: 2009

Phase I Awards

Phase II Awards

50%

Conversion Rate

$868,168

Phase I Dollars

$2,498,795

Phase II Dollars

$3,366,963

Total Awarded

Awards

Up to 10 of the most recent awards are being displayed. To view all of this company's awards, visit the Award Data search page.

An Efficient PFO-SPS System for Concentration of Brines and Wastewater Using Low Enthalpy Geothermal Heat

Amount: $149,917 Topic: 11a

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop the design of a system concentration of brines and wastewater using low enthalpy geothermal heat. The system combines a forward osmosis (FO) membrane with a thermally switchable draw. Forward osmosis technology excels in processing difficult-to-treat waters, such as brines and oil and gas wastewater. Porifera’s FO membrane has higher flux and reduced reverse salt flux compared to conventional membranes. It is more chemically stable, enabling the development of a system that uses a draw solute which can recovered using low-grade heat from geothermal sources. The draw solute can obtain high osmotic pressure and is recyclable for reuse within the system. Compared to other state of the art technologies, the system will have higher water recovery and treat more problematic water using low-enthalpy geothermal heat to drive the system. Concentration of brines and wastewater is an energy intensive process and does not utilize available geothermal heat. This proposal will enable the design of a pilot system that will concentrate brines and wastewater using low enthalpy geothermal heat. The system will have higher water recovery and treat more problematic water using less energy compared to state of the art technologies. For this SBIR Phase I project we will first identify a target pilot site for demonstration of the technology and then design and specify the components of the pilot system. We will target customers in the oil and gas industry, geothermal brines for mineral recovery, or power plant wastewater treatment.

SBIR

Phase I

2018

DOE

FORWARD OSMOSISBASED SYSTEM FOR TREATMENT OF WASTE WATER GENERATED DURING ENERGY PRODUCTION USING WASTE CARBON DIOXIDE AND WASTE HEAT

Amount: $999,793 Topic: 17d

Energy production requires significant quantities of fresh water for cooling, emitting greenhouse gases, and generating wastewater. This proposal will development a system that will synergistically capture carbon and treat wastewater at power plants. The system will have higher water recovery and treat more problematic water using less energy compared to state of the art technologies. A feasibility study of the system showed that carbon dioxide could be removed from synthetic flue gas, used to dewater seawater, and removed using lowgrade waste heat. Then a benchscale system was constructed and the process was improved. Further study and optimization of the system with significant technological improvements. The system will capture carbon dioxide to treat wastewater at power plants that currently require extremely expensive and energy intensive methods. The system will reduce the volume of waste water, reduce the energy costs to treat wastewater, expand the capabilities of water treatment, and reduce the cost of carbon capture from flue gas. Key Words – carbon capture, forward osmosis, membrane, draw. This proposal will enable the development of a system that will synergistically capture carbon and treat wastewater at power plants. The system will have higher water recovery and treat more problematic water using less energy compared to state of the art technologies.

SBIR

Phase II

2016

DOE

Forward Osmosis-based System for Treatment of Waste Water Generated during Energy Production using Waste Carbon Dioxide and Waste Heat

Amount: $999,293 Topic: 17d

This proposal will enable the development of a system that will synergistically capture carbon and treat wastewater at power plants. The system will have higher water recovery and treat more problematic water using less energy compared to state of the art technologies.

SBIR

Phase II

2014

DOE

Forward Osmosis-based System for Waste Water Generated During Energy Production Using Waste Carbon Dioxide and Waste Heat

Amount: $149,662 Topic: 17d

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate the economic viability of a system designed for carbon capture and water treatment at power plants. The project will measure the performance of a novel forward osmosis (FO) membrane in combination with a carbon-dioxide based switchable draw. Forward osmosis technology excels in processing difficult-to- treat waters, such as blow down waters created by power plants. Poriferas novel FO membrane has higher flux and reduced reverse salt flux compared to conventional membranes. It is more chemically stable, enabling the development of a system that uses a draw solute which can capture carbon dioxide from flue gas. The draw solute can obtain high osmotic pressure and is recyclable for reuse within the system. Compared to other state of the art technologies, the system will have higher water recovery and treat more problematic water, all while using less energy. Energy production requires significant quantities of fresh water for cooling, emitting greenhouse gases, and generating wastewater. This proposal will enable the development of a system that will synergistically capture carbon and treat wastewater at power plants. The system will have higher water recovery and treat more problematic water using less energy compared to state of the art technologies. The system will capture carbon dioxide to treat wastewater at power plants that currently require extremely expensive and energy intensive methods. The system will reduce the volume of waste water, reduce the energy costs to treat wastewater, expand the capabilities of water treatment, and reduce the cost of carbon capture from flue gas.

SBIR

Phase I

2013

DOE

SBIR Phase I: Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Ultrafiltration

Amount: $149,875 Topic: NM

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is focused on the development of carbon nanotube ultrafiltration (CNT-UF) membranes with high flux and uniform pore size. Carbon nanotubes are known to enhance flux in membranes for water and gas applications. Initial studies have shown that we can produce membranes with higher flux and better selectivity than commercial UF membranes. It is anticipated that the CNT-UF membranes developed in this project will have significantly higher flux than current commercial membranes, achieve good natural organic matter rejection, and have excellent chemical resistance. This project enables fabrication and optimization of high performance CNT-UF membranes. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that carbon nanotube ultrafiltration membranes with higher flux and improved rejection will result in energy and cost savings in a broad set of applications. Applications include but are not limited to treatment of surface water for potable water production, pretreatment for seawater desalination using reverse osmosis, municipal and industrial wastewater reclamation and a variety of other industrial processes. More efficient desalination, water reclamation, and reuse will reduce water scarcity. Improved ultrafiltration technology will reduce strain on water resources and aid in securing a supply of fresh drinking water worldwide.

SBIR

Phase I

2013

NSF

High Performance Forward Osmosis Membrane Element

Amount: $118,923 Topic: X3.02

Forward Osmosis (FO) is a promising technology for wastewater treatment applications. FO-based treatment does not require external pressure, can use lightweight components, and has low propensity to foul. Yet, the biggest obstacle to the use of FO processes is the low level of performance of the current commercial FO membranes. This project will use the novel high-flux and high-rejection FO membrane developed by Porifera, scaling up the membrane area, and incorporating it into a membrane module. The project will benchmark the membrane performance in the module, and deliver a module to NASA for further testing in NASA-specific applications.

SBIR

Phase I

2012

NASA

SBIR Phase II: Ultra Permeable Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Forward Osmosis

Amount: $499,710 Topic: Phase II

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will take advantage of the unique properties of carbon-nanotube (CNT) pores to develop membranes that are specifically tailored for forward osmosis (FO) applications. FO processes have a number of advantages over evaporation and pressure-driven membrane processes: low energy cost, low mechanical stresses, and high product concentration. The main problem impeding the widespread use of FO remains the lack of robust optimized FO membranes. CNT membranes are ideal for FO applications as they offer improvements in all relevant membrane characteristics: (1) improved structural integrity; (2) high permeability; (3) robust chemical stability; and (4) low fouling propensity. Most importantly, CNT membranes can be fabricated with sufficient structural support in the active layer to operate with only minimal external reinforcement, which minimizes concentration polarization losses. This project builds on the fabrication and functionalization approaches developed in Phase I, and applies them on a larger scale to achieve the objective of developing membranes with fast flow and high selectivity at reasonable production costs. Performance of the membranes will be benchmarked using laboratory tests that simulate real-world applications. This project will deliver an innovative FO membrane platform that exhibits superior performance and stability in FO applications. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to enable a variety of green technologies such as renewable power generation, wastewater reuse, and energy-efficient desalination. Although FO-based processes are extremely energy efficient, their commercial use has been hampered by the lack of high performance FO membranes. This project should produce two main outcomes. First, it would deliver a solid technical foundation for developing a novel FO membrane platform that would provide a superior commercial alternative to existing FO membrane architectures. Second, the performance advantages of the CNT membranes would open up several applications for commercial development.

SBIR

Phase II

2011

NSF

SBIR Phase I: Ultra Permeable Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Forward Osmosis

Amount: $149,850 Topic: NM

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will take advantage of the unique properties of nanomaterials to develop membranes with improved performance tailored for osmosis applications. Osmosis-based industrial processes have a number of advantages over evaporation and pressure-driven membrane processes, including low energy use, low operating temperatures and pressures, and high product concentrations. The project aims to synthesize a new membrane using a composite structure consisting of carbon nanotubes embedded in a polymer matrix. The main factor limiting the industrial use of osmosis-based technologies is a lack of optimized membranes. The unique nanofluidic properties of the proposed nanomaterials-based membrane would make it ideal for osmosis-based applications, offering improvements in all relevant aspects of membrane performance: 1) improved structural integrity, 2) high permeability; 3) chemical stability, and 4) low propensity to foul. The broader societal/commercial impact of this project will be to enable numerous applications in the areas of wastewater treatment, industrial separations, industrial and emergency desalination, and energy generation. The analysis using the planned desalination plant at the city of Santa Cruz as an example demonstrates that the availability of optimized membranes creates real opportunities for making a strong impact on the commercial use of osmosis-based technologies. In the future the nanomaterials-based membranes developed over the course of this project could be deployed on a global scale for osmosis-based applications, making a measurable impact on this $2.6 billion annual market. Applications of these technologies to water purification and energy generation could provide not only commercial but high societal impact, improving the living conditions in the US and worldwide.

SBIR

Phase I

2009

NSF

STTR Phase I: Cooperative Nanostructure Driven Self-Assembly in Carbon Nanotube/Block Co-Polymer Systems

Amount: $149,941 Topic: MM

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project addresses one of the key barriers for commercial development of the next generation membrane technologies that exploit extremely fast transport through the carbon nanotube pores. These pores enable nearly frictionless flow that could drastically lower membrane resistance and produce in significant energy savings for a wide range of membrane-based separation processes. The first carbon nanotube membranes were made from aligned CVD-grown nanotube arrays that are costly and hard to scale up. The objective of this Phase I project is to demonstrate assembly of bulk single wall carbon nanotube-polymer composites at high loadings and establish understanding of the thermodynamics and kinetics of these processes. Another objective is to develop a strategy for scalability of this process as well as identify the main parameters that control the quality of the resulting aligned nanocomposites. Membrane separation technologies are one of the cornerstones of modern economy, and this $12B/year market has been growing at an annual rate exceeding 9%. Membranes are also critically important for global societal and humanitarian problems, such as availability of clean water (one of 6 people in the world lacks access to clean water and water shortage is a growing problem in the Western US). In particular, small-pore membranes enable reverse-osmosis processes that are the most energy-efficient route for seawater desalination that could tap into plentiful water resources available in the ocean. Development of a scalable process for aligning small-pore carbon nanotubes into a membrane would produce membranes with permeability of up to 100 times higher than current RO membranes, and would represent a paradigm shift for the RO membrane market. Commercialization of this process could potentially make RO desalinated water costs in line with the current municipal water costs, and thus unlock an almost inexhaustible water source for the US and global population. This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

STTR

Phase I

2009

NSF