Glass half full for NZ dairy farmer
Working out of his shed in Auckland, the dairy engineer developed what he calls thin film composite polymer flat membrane filtration technology.
Daryl realised the system held great potential outside agriculture, especially in heavy industry. He began exploring areas where large-scale liquid waste is a challenge, such as mining, bauxite production, and oil and gas.
Daryl’s company, HydrOxSys, found the membrane system was able to recycle up to 90 percent of the water that would otherwise be discarded.
As well as recycling water, Daryl’s solution has the potential to redirect 85 to 90 percent of energy from industrial process back into manufacturing.
It achieves this by taking advantage of the natural process of water movement along concentrated salt gradients, thereby reducing energy costs.
GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt awarded HydrOxSys $100,000 in March 2013 as part of GE’s ecomagination Challenge, an open innovation challenge where businesses, entrepreneurs, innovators and students share their best ideas on how to reduce carbon emissions.