Dow Invests in OxyMem’s Wastewater Treatment Technology

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), has announced its investment in OxyMem Ltd, a University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out company.

The investment will accelerate the commercialisation of OxyMem’s promising wastewater treatment technology, the Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR). The MABR technology has the potential to bring wastewater treatment closer to energy neutrality by reducing energy consumption for aeration by up to 75 percent.

Snehal Desai, global business director for Dow Water and Process Solutions, commented, “Global water demand trends are making wastewater infrastructure a major challenge for populations and industries across the globe. OxyMem’s MABR technology shows excellent promise in lowering operational costs for the wastewater treatment process due to reduced energy demand.”

“This also makes the technology a strong sustainability value proposition – it can help encourage greater adoption of water reuse and as a result, advance a circular economy that makes water a well-managed resource, sustained by advances in science and technology.”

Wayne Byrne, Managing Director of OxyMem, added, “I believe that we have an important technology that can make a sizeable contribution in the wastewater market where there is a significant need for more efficient infrastructure solutions. Securing the investment from Dow, an innovation leader augurs well for the future of the company.
“We look forward to an exciting journey with Dow Water & Process Solutions business on board.”

OxyMem was co-founded by Professor Eoin Casey, Dr Eoin Syron and Wayne Byrne in 2013 as a spin-out from UCD’s School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering.