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(Sharecast News) - Graphene nanoplatelet technology specialist Directa Plus announced the start of a pilot project for a novel concept in produced water treatment on Thursday.
The AIM-traded firm said the project would use its 'Grafysorber' technology, and was being conducted through its subsidiary Setcar.
It said the showcase of the pioneering endeavour took place at Setcar's Braila location in Romania
Produced water refers to the water that is extracted alongside crude oil during the oil production process.
Currently, the water is disposed of without undergoing any treatment, but stricter industry regulations are driving the need for effective treatment solutions.
Directa Plus said it was aiming to address the challenge with its new development, which had the potential to tap into untapped markets within the company's environmental division.
The initiative aligned with Directa Plus' overarching strategy of adopting innovative technologies capable of decontaminating and conserving valuable resources such as water.
Directa Plus said the pilot project features a newly-established Romanian Grafysorber production unit, designed to offer a flexible, modular, transportable, and cost-effective solution for treating produced water.
Following successful tests involving the treatment of crude oil-containing emulsion from the upstream process using Grafysorber technology, which achieved a recovery of over 11,000 tonnes of crude oil with a purity exceeding 99% between 2021 and 2022, Directa Plus and Setcar had now developed a novel plant design for continuous flow produced water treatment.
The objective is to achieve a continuous flow rate of around 50 cubic meters per hour with hydrocarbon concentrations of up to 300 parts per million.
"Working with Setcar to test a new concept for produced water treatment using Grafysorber is another exciting step forward for Directa Plus as it offers the potential to open us to new market opportunities and is in line with our environmental strategy that aims to help our customers achieve their sustainability targets more easily, cheaply and at a faster rate," said founder and chief executive officer Giulio Cesareo.
"It is also a reflection of our continued investment to improve our performance and to broaden the range of potential applications for our Grafysorber technology, to limit the waste of precious commodities, in this case, water."
At 1449 BST, shares in Directa Plus were up 0.41% at 68.78p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
