Jan 14 2011
Eastman Chemical Company’s expertise in manufacturing with sustainable cellulosic materials is behind the technology of HydroPack™, the emergency hydration solution for disaster relief from Hydration Technology Innovations (HTI).
“Drinking water is one of the first things that a victim of a natural disaster needs to survive,” says Walter Schultz, chief executive of HTI. “Many of the deaths that occur from natural disasters don’t happen because of the disaster itself, but from what happens later – water-borne disease that sweeps through the population.”
With HydroPack™, victims of natural and man-made disasters can now transform virtually any water source -- lakes, streams, swimming pools and even contaminated flood waters and mud puddles – into clean and nutrient-enriched emergency drinks.
HTI successfully deployed more than 24,000 life-saving HydroPacks on the ground in Haiti just days after the devastating earthquakes in January 2010. Experts from HTI will work with experts from Eastman, and the design firm Modern Edge to identify further design and technology refinements following a disaster relief demonstration from January 18-28, 2011.
Working with the Kenyan Water for Health Organization (KWAHO) and local government officials, HTI will distribute more than 20,000 HydroPacks in the village of Mudimbia, in Kenya’s flood-prone Budalangi region where raging floods along the Nzoia River displaced 40,000 people in 2007.
HydroPacks are powered by a seemingly magical filtration technology called Forward Osmosis, achieved through HTI’s proprietary membrane that is manufactured from Eastman’s cellulose acetate. Forward Osmosis is a natural equilibrium process. Two liquids are separated by a membrane that allows only water molecules to pass, while excluding larger molecules and toxic contaminants. In independent laboratory tests, HTI filters meet or surpass U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s water purifier specification for reductions in bacteria, viruses and cysts.
In a HydroPack™, electrolytes and nutrients in powder form are enclosed in a compartment between two membranes and become a sports drink as water diffuses across the membrane. What begins as a paper thin 4x6 inch pouch is transformed, in 8 to 12 hours, into a clean and healthy 12-ounce drink -- straw included.
“Eastman worked with us to make the material that meets the unique specs we need for Forward Osmosis to be successful,” added Schultz.
“Eastman succeeds best when we co-innovate with our customers,” says Mark Costa, Executive Vice President, Specialty Polymers, Coatings and Adhesives, and Chief Marketing Officer at Eastman. “The advances in Forward Osmosis made by HTI are impressive. We’re proud to leverage the expertise of our chemists and researchers to help save the lives of disaster victims across the globe.”
Jos de Wit, senior research associate for Eastman, explains that Eastman’s cellulose esters are remarkable polymers with a renewable backbone provided by nature itself. These versatile polymers are based on one of the most abundant naturally occurring biopolymers – cellulose obtained from sustainably managed forests and cotton linters.
“Cellulosic polymers are the heart of HTI’s proprietary process that allows water to pass through the HydroPack™ membrane’s tiny pores,” adds de Wit. “Salts, sugars, and other contaminants are blocked by the HydroPack™ membrane.”