The Irish Times Innovation Awards April 2014 | Page 14

OVERALL WINNER

OxyMem was co-founded last year by Prof Eoin Casey and Dr Eoin
Syron as spin-out from UCD’s School of Chemical and Bioprocess
Engineering. The original research into the process was carried out
by Prof Eoin Casey in University College Dublin, one of the world
leaders in membrane technology, with support from Enterprise
Ireland since 2003.
Following successful trials of a pilot scale unit at Severn Trent
Water’s Minworth, Birmingham facility in 2013 OxyMem was spun
out of the university as a standalone company.
The easiest way to describe the OxyMem system is a sealed
container containing a gas-permeable silicon tubing through which
air is pumped.
The wastewater passes through the container on the outside of the
tubing. Oxygen passes through the tubing in one direction but the
water cannot pass through it in the other. The tubing itself provides
an excellent oxygen rich habitat for a diverse bacterial culture which
breaks down the wastewater contaminants. This means that the
bacteria are receiving an oxygen supply directly from the tube. The
system has been shown to deliver operating cost reductions of 75
per cent and this will be very attractive to the main markets for the
new technology which are in the developing world.

UCD spin-out Oxymem is the overall winner of The Irish Times
InterTradeIreland Innovation of the Year award. Presented with
their award by Taoiseach Enda Kenny the Athlone-based firm has
developed a revolutionary new system for waste water plants that’s
up to four times more energy efficient than other best-in-class
solutions.
Wastewater treatment is a biological process which uses bacteria to
break down waste substances in the water. To do this the bacteria
requires oxygen, which in traditional plants is supplied through
an energy intensive forced aeration system, which sends bubbles
of compressed air through the bottom of the treatment tank;
technology which has been in use since 1914. Typically less than
30 per cent of the oxygen supplied is transferred to the wastewater
resulting in enormous energy waste. The OxyMem system has
no such limitations and is capable of achieving up to 95 per cent
transfer efficiency.

Winner:
OxyMem

O YMEM

®

SMART AERATION

O YMEM

®

SMART AERATION

“With energy prices rising across the globe, obtaining effective
treatment with the least energy expenditure is becoming the top
priority in product selection,” says OxyMem managing director
Wayne Byrne. “We estimate the potential for energy savings for
wastewater aeration is in the order of €45 billion. We estimate the
overall global market for wastewater treatment technology to be €4
billion at the moment and to grow to €6 billion by 2020.”
“We have raised €250,000 in seed funding with the support of
Enterprise Ireland and have opened a manufacturing facility
employing six staff in Blyry in Athlone,” explains Mr Byrne. “We are
hoping to grow to 25 to 30 staff by the end of this year. We are in
the happy position of having more interest in the product than we
have capacity to produce it at the moment.
“We hope to have three demonstration units in operation in different
markets by the end of this year and to scale up production after
that.”