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Description
IZIT d.o.o. is innovative micro enterprises located in Zagreb (HR04 Continental Croatia). Founded in 1990, the company started in publishing and wholesale, but due to market trends it progressively began to focus on the field of 3D modeling and material production. After several years of experience in this field the main activities of the entity today include: 3D printing/ Additive manufacturing, Topology Optimization, Reverse engineering, Generative design, development and production of 3D models, repair and implementation of 3D data and model making. Over the years, the company has built a stable market position in the domestic market, but they aim for more international clients. The Project Promoter has a small team of experienced experts within reverse engineering, CAD modelling and 3D printing. The goal of the company is to become a reference center for 3D modeling and analysis on the global market by continuously improving technological equipment and maintaining a recognizable partnership approach to its customers and suppliers.
In this small R&D project, the Project Promoter and its partners will develop a new product, a hand-hold Personal Water Purifier for desalination (PWP Sea). The device is intended for manual desalination of seawater and is ideal as a safety device in vessels that are imprinted in the high seas. This portable hand-operator desalinator, with a high desalination efficiency, can provide high output of potable water needed to survive in lifeboats or other situation where the only source of water is seawater.
The project will be implemented together with three partners: Purifier Ltd., a Croatian micro company that owns the international patent (reg. in Europe and US) for the PWP, the Norwegian company TM Separation AS, with membrane filtration expertise, and the Norwegian micro enterprises Aquasolis Global AS, with expertise in reverse osmosis-based water purification and desalination. The partners will not be beneficiaries.
Summary of project results
The main source of motivation for the innovative PWP Sea (Portable Water Purifier) emerged as the result of:
1. Lack of portable and compact seawater desalination solutions – which are crucial for survival in lifeboats in case of an accident or disaster, whose target users are shipping companies/fleets, army, large and small shipyard/lifeboat manufacturers and search and rescue organizations at sea.
2. Need to provide drinking water on smaller vessels that have a significantly lower storage capacity than larger ships and in case of an emergency – used by fishermen, sailors and hobbyists.
The project developed an innovative product: hand-hold Personal Water Purifier for desalination (PWP Sea) with filtration system that consist of membranes for reverse osmosis, a container concentrate of certain volume with integrated piston pumps for seawater supply and recirculation of concentrate. The product was developed, field-tested, patented and finished successfully. The fact that is manually operated is also a benefit in the cases where there is no electricity available, and this is expected whenever an accident or disaster strikes. The device is ready for serial production. Technical documentation was prepared, supply chains were defined. The produced prototypes are used for demonstration.
Access to safe water is especially important in the times of emergencies or maritime accidents. Emergency water can be obtained from available water sources, such as the sea. Seawater can be safe to drink if using water purifiers so it is important to ensure their availability.
PWP Sea is characterized by high desalination efficiency with the release of 99% soluble salts from seawater, high operating pressure of 55 bar and high purification capacity of 0.5 l/min. The core of the innovation is in the filtration system that consists of membranes for reverse osmosis, a container concentrate of a certain volume with integrated piston pumps for sea water supply and recirculation of concentrate. There are of course several portable salt water purifiers on the market, but PWP Sea is a compact and lighter weighted version. Hence, innovation is considered to be on international level. For PWP Sea European Patent Office approved the patent under number PCT/EP2022/055323.
The main customers for PWP Sea can be segmented according to the type of service or product they offer: Boat equipment manufacturers, Lifeboat manufacturers, Search and rescue organizations at sea, Manufacturers of reverse osmosis (RO) technology in the field of water treatment, or anyone who wishes to have access to safe drinking water in the nature or remote areas.
Summary of bilateral results
The partnership is expected to continue with Purifier and Aquasolis. As for MT Separation, very good business relationship was built so it is expected for the cooperation to also continue.