Establishing Quality Assurance, Process Improvements and Pilot Plant Development for a Novel Nanotechnology Platform in Water Remediation

NB-BioMatrix Inc. (NBBM or the company) has developed a nanoparticle product, Naqua-PureTM, for industrial heavy metal water remediation. Unlike current heavy metal removal technologies, Naqua PureTM is cheap, environmentally friendly, requires low energy input, and is highly efficient. However, in order to commercialize this nanotechnology it is necessary to (1) develop and implement quality assurance standards for NBBM internal expectations and consumer driven external driven expectations; and (2) design a manufacturing practice and pilot-plant design for the scale-up production of Naqua PureTM. It is proposed that an engineering MITACS post-doctoral fellow develop the necessary quality assurance measures and provide input on the large scale production processes based on evidence provided by research data. The Mitacs-Fellow will study the Naqua-PureTM removal efficiencies via atomic adsorption spectroscopy and inductive coupled plasma spectroscopy, to determine the thresholds and limitations of the product with laboratory and industrial wastewater samples.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jong Sung Kim

Student:

Kimberley Clarke

Partner:

NB Biomatrix Inc.

Discipline:

Epidemiology / Public health and policy

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Dalhousie University