HAYWARD, CA, Feb. 17, 2015 -- The California Energy Commission (CEC) has recommended Porifera, Inc., a San Francisco Bay Area start-up company focused on developing advanced water treatment systems, for proposed awards totaling $5.7 million. The awards are granted for pilot demonstration testing with a variety of customers in California's industrial, agricultural and water sectors.
The first demonstration project, titled "Water and Energy Savings Utilizing Innovative Forward Osmosis Systems for Irrigation and Wastewater Reuse" has been selected for a proposed award of $3.2 million. This project will pilot Porifera's novel PFO Recycler system. This technology is an energy-efficient hybrid forward osmosis/reverse osmosis system that generates purified water streams for reuse as process water or irrigation.
The second demonstration project, titled "Water and Energy Savings through Osmotic Concentration of Products and Waste in Food and Beverage Industry" has been selected for a proposed award of $2.5 million. This project will pilot Porifera's PFO Concentrator System. This technology is based on the company's proprietary PFO+ROX technology and is an energy-efficient, low-cost way to match the performance of an evaporator while generating purified water streams for high-purity reuse.
The CEC selected Porifera's proposals from a field of 49 candidate proposals, eight of which were selected for proposed funding totaling $27 million. Porifera was the only entity selected for more than one award. More information about the CEC's proposed award for this program (PON-14-304) can be found at the organization's website at www.energy.ca.gov/contracts.
See also: "Forward Osmosis membranes show 'no flux decline' ahead of CSM deal"
About Porifera
Porifera is a San Francisco Bay Area startup, based in the city of Hayward, Calif. The company has pioneered development of forward osmosis membranes and systems for water treatment. Porifera has successfully executed projects for the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and NASA to demonstrate and design water treatment systems that are low-fouling and energy-efficient. These systems are now being built and sold to customers worldwide. For more information, visit www.porifera.com.
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