At the start of the year, a setback occurred for BASF when its new battery material manufacturing facility in Finland had its inauguration postponed. This happened after a court sided with environmental advocates, pointing out BASF’s inadequate wastewater management strategy. Read more about the delay.
The global rise of battery manufacturing plants is shadowed by the looming challenge of wastewater management, threatening to hinder their development. However, a promising startup believes the key lies in recycling the wastewater rather than disposing of it.
This wastewater is heavily contaminated with sodium sulfate, a derivative from utilising sulfuric acid and caustic soda which are pivotal in the production of batteries, copper refining, and various other sectors.
“The potential to foster a circular economy utilizing these chemical reagents is absolutely there,” said Bilen Akuzum, the Co-Founder and CTO of Aepnus Technology, in a conversation with TechCrunch.
Saga of discovery started for Akuzum and Lukas Hackl, his fellow Co-Founder, amidst their exploration of lithium mining sites in California and Nevada. The chemistry enthusiasts, friends since their college dorm days, were brainstorming startup concepts during their journey.
“Our initial thoughts were inclined towards lithium extraction or something allied with minerals,” shared Akuzum. “However, in our dialogues with industry insiders, a recurrent theme was the industrial waste being generated and the collective cluelessness on its management.”
Pondering over their findings post-trip, Akuzum and Hackl decided to work on enhancing a traditional technique to repurpose this waste into useful raw materials for the very processes that generated it.
Their venture, Aepnus, aims to revamp the age-old chloralkali process. This method decomposes salts like sodium sulfate into their originating acids and bases.
Aepnus leverages electrolyzers to instigate the decomposition of these salts. Unlike others that may rely on costly metals to accelerate this reaction, Aepnus steers clear of such expensive aids, reveals Akuzum.
Presently, Aepnus is dispatching half-sized prototypes of its machinery to clients for testing on their unique wastewater compositions which may vary in contaminants, necessitating pre-filtration. Post this preparatory step, the electrolyzers focus on eradicating the sodium sulfate.
For clients, repurposing sodium sulfate significantly cuts both disposal expenses and material costs. Mining sites, which are often isolated, also benefit from reduced transportation dues. “Instead of having these chemicals transported from afar to mining sites, we envision on-site regeneration of these chemicals from waste,” explains Akuzum.
The firm is currently engaging with over 15 clients, with projects ranging from initial feasibility studies to the deployment of pilot equipment. Aepnus has recently secured an $8 million seed funding to further distribute its pilot electrolyzers and to forward the development of a commercial model. The fundraising was led by Clean Energy Ventures, with contributions from Gravity Climate Fund, Impact Science Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Muus Climate Partners, and Voyager Ventures.
Achieving a commercial production scale of its electrolyzers will be a signifying milestone within the U.S. for Aepnus. “Globally, only a limited number of enterprises possess the expertise to manufacture this genre of electrolyzers, and regrettably, none are based in the U.S.,” acknowledged Akuzum.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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