Overview
Ahead Water Applied sciences (TSXV:FWTC) helps lithium mining firms and different industries scale back their environmental impression by means of its modern wastewater remedy expertise that permits industrial operations to cut back liquid waste quantity by as much as 95 p.c.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) rankings proceed to be a key enterprise technique for organizations as they impression public notion and partnership potentialities. For water-intensive industries, reminiscent of mining, sustainable wastewater administration is crucial.
Transformative wastewater applied sciences are crucial for each companies and the world’s inhabitants. Actually, except enough progress is achieved, UNICEF and WHO estimate that 1.6 billion folks might be with out entry to protected consuming water by 2030, and a couple of.8 billion might be with out entry to protected sanitation and hygiene. Water remedy applied sciences can disrupt present traits and enhance international entry to protected consuming water.
By means of its Ahead Osmosis (FO) expertise, Ahead Water is offering an environmentally pleasant various to conventional wastewater disposal. Historically, wastewater disposal requires transporting untreated wastewater for deep nicely disposal or high-intensity thermal remedy. Ahead Water’s FO system is put in on the shopper website, and wastewater is handled to cut back waste quantity and produce worthwhile clear water for reuse within the manufacturing course of. Then, the considerably decreased quantity of wastewater is transported and disposed of, considerably saving on transportation and disposal prices.
The FO expertise targets three large sectors: industrial wastewater, mining and meals manufacturing. Ahead Water’s distinctive and patented FO expertise achieves high-rate water extraction inside a low-energy steady course of. The method reduces waste and permits as much as 95 p.c water restoration, prepared for reuse.
Ahead Water’s Li-FO™ expertise is right for lithium-brine mining operations, permitting mines to “nice tune” brine sources to enhance focus by as much as 20 instances. This leads to improved restoration and makes lower-concentration brines economically viable. Ahead Water is at present embarking on an early growth testing mission to additional consider and refine the expertise’s viability in lithium mining.
Howie Honeyman, CEO, just lately defined how the corporate’s expertise can enhance lithium mining trade operations. “Numerous lithium being mined at this time all over the world is coming from underground aquifers that retailer the lithium brine. The problem is that the lithium is surrounded by different minerals and salts, requiring chemical ‘tweezers’ to pluck out that lithium. What we will do is, at a number of locations in that course of, we will focus that lithium-containing water stream, which makes it far simpler for these miners to deal with the volumes they should extract that lithium.”
An skilled administration crew with technical experience leads the corporate in the direction of additional refining and deploying its expertise. The crew contains specialists in supplies science, chemistry and engineering. Extra specialists in company administration and financing spherical out the management crew to guide the corporate towards its objectives.
Firm Highlights
- Ahead Water Applied sciences has developed a patented wastewater remedy expertise that reduces wastewater quantity and improves reusability throughout a number of industries, together with mining and meals manufacturing.
- The corporate’s Ahead Osmosis expertise disrupts the normal methodology of wastewater disposal by decreasing the quantity of waste that have to be transported and disposed of, immediately decreasing prices.
- The FO expertise additionally improves water reusability by as much as 95 p.c, decreasing the expense of importing water for industrial processes.
- The Ahead Water Applied sciences Li-FO™ course of is relevant within the lithium mining sector by bettering focus by as much as 20 instances, permitting organizations to enhance extraction effectivity.
- The corporate has partnered with a lithium-brine extraction operation to guage its Li-FO™ expertise.
- An skilled administration crew with a mix of related technical experience leads the corporate towards refining and advertising and marketing its expertise.
Key Initiatives
Ahead Osmosis Water Therapy
Ahead Osmosis (FO) is a naturally occurring course of during which water is spontaneously drawn throughout a membrane when one resolution is greater in salt focus than the opposite. The distinction in salinity, referred to as the osmotic gradient, creates a low-energy water remedy course of.
Ahead Water Applied sciences has leveraged the naturally occurring course of to innovate its patented three-step FO expertise, permitting for 95 p.c wastewater discount and 95 p.c water restoration.
Undertaking Highlights:
- Patented Three-Step Course of: Ahead Water Applied sciences FO course of achieves low-energy and high-rate water extraction with a distinctive three-step design:
- Water Extraction: Water is drawn throughout the FO membrane right into a salt draw resolution. The mixture of the patented draw resolution and distinctive membrane “locks” the draw resolution on one aspect of the membrane, creating a real closed-loop course of.
- Water/Salt Separation: Subsequent, a switchable water salt (SWS) achieves water/salt separation as low-grade warmth is utilized, and it phases from liquid to gasoline. Because the gasoline leaves the answer, clear water is left behind. The vitality needed for this step is commonly discovered in lots of services within the type of waste warmth.
- Salt Draw Reconcentration: Lastly, because the gasoline leaves the answer, it’s captured throughout the closed-loop system and is passively cooled, inflicting it to part again into liquid type as an SWS. The SWS liquid is collected and recycled again to the entrance of the membranes within the water extraction step, making a steady course of.
- Broadly Relevant Water Therapy: The low-energy course of permits organizations throughout a number of industries to enhance water reclamation and scale back wastewater by as much as 95 p.c. Moreover, the method permits for as much as 20 instances focus, making the method amenable to lithium-brine extraction and different potential purposes.
- Important Value Financial savings: The first worth proposition for the FO course of is price discount in wastewater transportation and disposal. With the method in place, extra water is reclaimed for reuse in manufacturing, which reduces the uncooked quantity of wastewater that have to be transported and disposed of.
Administration Crew
Howie Honeyman, Ph.D. – Chief Government Officer & President
Dr. Howie Honeyman has 20 years of expertise commercializing new applied sciences at Xerox, Cabot Corp., E Ink, Natrix Separations and as former CTO of GreenCentre Canada. Commercialized excessive capability excessive throughput membranes for bioprocessing as SVP of Natrix Separations, which was just lately acquired by Millipore-Sigma. Since 2015, Honeyman has been main Ahead Water to turn out to be a premier wastewater remedy resolution. Honeyman can be an inventor of file on over 50 US patents and holds a PhD in chemistry from the College of Toronto.
Michael Willetts – Chief Monetary Officer
Michael Willetts has over 25 years in monetary management roles primarily in manufacturing, from massive multinational companies to startups, each private and non-private. He beforehand labored as an engineer within the automotive trade earlier than coming into into finance at Ford Motor Firm. Willets went on to progressively bigger finance roles in a number of worldwide automotive suppliers (Textron, GKN, DSM) and Canadian producers (Armtec, Stronach Worldwide, AirBoss of America). Willetts is at present offering fractional CFO companies by means of WD Numeric Company Companies within the manufacturing, SaaS and hashish industries. Willetts graduated with a BASc, BComm and MBA from the College of Windsor.
Wayne Maddever – Ph.D., P.Eng., – Chief Working Officer
Dr. Wayne Maddever obtained his Ph.D. in supplies science engineering from the College of Toronto. Since 1985, he has held senior government administration positions with technically primarily based companies in start-up, turnaround or acquisition conditions the place his expertise in change administration have introduced appreciable success within the commercialization of latest applied sciences. His expertise in each non-public and public firms, domestically and internationally, spans a broad number of industries, together with bio and superior supplies, precision manufacturing, recycling, waste-to-energy and medical gadgets. He holds a lot of patents in a number of fields. He’s a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. Along with his duties as COO of Ahead Water, he’s at present portfolio supervisor at Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, one of many main shareholders of Ahead Water.
Grant Thornley – VP Engineering Resolution Gross sales
Grant Thornley is a enterprise strategist with greater than 25 years of expertise. He has developed and grown worldwide water/wastewater markets by means of modern progress hacking strategies and processes, synergized with product growth and positioning, information analytics and acceleration of go-to-market methods by means of alliances and partnerships. Having experience in chemical, mechanical and organic remedy processes in addition to designing a whole bunch of municipal and industrial purposes, Thornley brings a knowledge-to-action strategy to serving to shoppers remedy issues and notice new alternatives in water reuse, vitality conservation and CO2 discount.
Leonard Seed, P.Eng. – Director Of Engineering & Operations
Leonard Seed has over 18 years of expertise growing and commercializing new water and wastewater remedy applied sciences, primarily in a start-up setting. Seed is known as as an inventor on over seven patents and has authored a number of publications. Seed is an expert engineer and has an MSc in environmental engineering from the College of Guelph. Leonard holds inventorship on seven US patents and is an teacher at Mohawk Faculty educating facets of water remedy applied sciences and main analysis efforts on ahead osmosis.
Philip Jessop, Ph.D. – Government Analysis Director
Dr. Philip Jessop is a professor and Canada Analysis Chair of Inexperienced Chemistry on the Division of Chemistry, Queen’s College in Kingston, Ontario. He additionally serves because the technical director of GreenCentre Canada and government analysis director at Ahead Water Applied sciences. After his Ph.D. (British Columbia, 1991) and a postdoctoral appointment (Toronto, 1992), he grew to become a contract researcher in Japan working for R. Noyori (Nobel Prize 2001). As a professor on the College of California-Davis (1996-2003) and since then at Queen’s, he has studied inexperienced solvents and the chemistry of carbon dioxide. Distinctions embody the NSERC Polanyi Award (2008), Killam Analysis Fellowship (2010), Canadian Inexperienced Chemistry & Engineering Award (2012), Eni Award (2013), Fellowship within the Royal Society of Canada (2013), a Canada Analysis Chair Tier 1 (2013 to 2020), and the NSERC Brockhouse Prize (2019). He serves as chair of the editorial board for the journal Inexperienced Chemistry, has chaired three worldwide conferences, and helped create GreenCentre Canada, a nationwide middle of excellence for the commercialization of inexperienced chemistry applied sciences. Ahead Water is a spin-off firm primarily based on Dr. Jessop’s switchable solvents.
