Liquitek acquires vacuum distillation developer Distech Ltd.

Liquitek Enterprises Inc. (Draper, UT; formerly VitriSeal Inc.) has acquired 74% of Distech Ltd. (Auckland, New Zealand), which owns a patented vacuum distillation technology that purifies water containing MTBE (methyl-t-butyl ether), TCE, PCE, BTEX, PCB, arsenic, salt, and/or other chemicals. Distech's fail-safe fluid separation process uses heat-permeable membranes and vacuum and vapor compression distillation to reduce power and maintenance requirements. According to Liquitek, the Distech technology provides a cost-efficient route to high-purity water in commercial quantities.

Schematic of Distech's V-Still technology

MTBE International patents protect several of Distech's technical innovations. Liquitek believes that features such as automatic clean-in-place, remote system management, minimal feedwater pretreatment, compact size, fail-safe operation, and competitive pricing will ensure a strong market position for the new system.

Removal and recapture of MTBE and other chemicals from contaminated water supplies represents an emerging unmet need that Liquitek feels will be served by Distech's distillation technologies. More than 250,000 underground fuel storage tanks may currently leak MTBE and other carcinogens into US water supplies. Any company using large quantities of MTBE could potentially be at risk for contaminating groundwater.

Distech distillation removes more than 99% of MTBE from water containing higher concentrations found in groundwater. The resulting purified water had residual MTBE levels 50% lower than those recommended as safe for human consumption.

Liquitek also plans to market the technology for both small and large-scale seawater desalination facilities. The low-pressure Distech process produces water up to 300 times more pure than reverse osmosis, the principal competitive technology.

Furthermore, by maintaining positive pressure on the purified water throughout the system, the process ensures fail-safe operation. The technology will also be marketed to water bottlers, semiconductor manufacturers, metal finishing operations, and laboratories.

Liquitek purchased its 74% share of Distech for 11.4 million share of its own stock, and has prepared an unconditional proposal to acquire the remaining stock for 4.0 million Liquitek shares. It will also convert Distech options and warrants into 859,896 Liquitek shares. It expects to complete the transaction by the end of the year.

Liquitek also owns Thermoflow Corp., which develops technologies for antifreeze recycling and industrial wastewater treatment. Distech's technology provides a complementary platform the company can use to solve a variety of liquid separation and purification problems.

Edited by Angelo DePalma
Managing Editor, Pharmaceutical Online and Drug Discovery Online
adepalma@vertical.net