03

11

The Water-Energy NexusAs our global population soars to 7 billion, how can we keep the inseparable twins of water and energy from becoming increasingly scarce? [ p. 10 ]

Also in this issue:

WHERE IDEAS HAVE MOMENTUM | A QUARTERLY ONLINE PUBLICATION

The new flavor of purification [ p.4 ]

From Proteins to Polyphenols

Welcome to the inaugural issue of I •de–um, an exclusive online magazine from Dow Water & Process Solutions dedicated to bringing to the forefront the thinking and technology that impacts business and consumer product processes. You may wonder: what’s an I•de–um?

In the case of our magazine, I•de–um is a celebration of ideas, ideals and interconnectedness. It reflects not only the ideas we bring to our customers, but also those we gain in return. Think of I •de–um as the focal point for gathering and sharing the greatest knowledge in the industries we serve.

This issue reflects that mindset. In our main feature, you’ll learn about ways that food and beverage processors are using newer purification and filtration technologies to improve production processes— and gain revenue opportunities and cost reductions. We think you’ll be amazed by the diversity of this work worldwide.

You’ll find an article that makes a compelling case for what we term “the water-energy nexus,” the inseparable comingling of water and energy needs as our global population increasingly expands. In our Tech Spotlight, we feature the latest product developments from Dow Water & Process Solutions.

Finally, we present a summary of industry news and a calendar of upcoming events, which you may find of interest.

We hope you enjoy and find value in our first issue of I •de–um and consider sharing it with others.

Tim Wood Global Director of Research & Development

/////////////////////////////

®™ Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow

Welcome to I deum

Connections | From Proteins to PolyphenolsHow are food and beverage processors using new purification technologies and efficiencies to drive quality and sales gains? Learn more in “From Proteins to Polyphenols.”

CalendarAn update on upcoming events pertinent to the water and process solutions industry.

The Impact | The Water-Energy NexusGlobally, water and energy are inseparable demands. New ion exchange and ultrafiltration technologies are proving integral toward meeting these demands.

Tech Spotlight | DOW FILMTEC™ HRLE 440iA look at DOW FILMTEC™ HRLE-440i low-energy membrane, integral to improving water quality and lowering energy costs.

Global NewsAround the world, Dow Water & Process Solutions is providing the tools and technology needed to improve water quality— learn how and where.

March 2011

4

10

12

14

15

///////////CONTENTS

®™ Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow

/////////////////////////////

////////////////////////////////////// CONNECTIONS

Food and Beverage Processors Drive Quality and Sales Gains Using New Purification Technologies and Efficiencies

From Proteins to Polyphenols

Like the meatpackers of old who found uses for everything from the pig except the oink, modern food and beverage processors are increasingly using new technology-driven means to gain the greatest productivity from raw ingredients and respond to consumer demands. Through specialized resins and membranes, companies are producing better-tasting, safer and more nutritious products from a variety of ingredients, while also conserving resources and enhancing revenue opportunities.

A Whey We Go

For instance, the advent of functional foods and beverages—those that enable consumers to address a specific health concern—has opened up new opportunities for pleasant-tasting and nutritious foods and beverages. One example is whey protein, a dietary supplement long favored by bodybuilders and elite athletes. Today, whey protein has become increasingly popular with “average” consumers seeking help with concerns such as weight manage-ment, muscle mass retention, satiety and general well-being.

Whey, the liquid remainder of cheese and casein production, was once considered a waste product. It was formerly distributed to farmers for mixture into high-protein animal feed, hauled away for disposal or dumped into the nearest stream or sewer (with predictably negative water quality results). Today, thanks to a process that includes a variety of relatively

economical demineralization technologies including ion exchange resins and ultrafiltration membranes, cheesemakers can transform seemingly “worthless” whey into high-value whey protein.

Besides its main use as a nutritional supplement, whey protein can also be used in the commercial baking and confection industries as a flavor and quality supplement, in infant formulas as a protein supplement and even as an antibacterial agent in some meat products. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly 400 million pounds of dry whey protein concentrate is produced annually in the United States.

Companies are producing better-tasting, safer and more nutritious products from a variety of ingredients using new purification technologies.

Whey protein has become increasingly popular with “average” consumers seeking help with concerns such

as weight management, muscle mass retention, satiety and general well-being.

How Sweet It Is

Food processors have achieved similarly transformative efficiency and revenue results using ion exchange technologies with other ingredients. Case in point: sweeteners.

For example, beet sugar, used for table sugar (sucrose), has historically been refined using traditional methods to produce a sugar yield of approximately 80 percent. The remaining 20 percent is a lower-value byproduct— molasses—which refiners typically sell for animal feed, fermentation feedstock and yeast production.

However, through a process known as molasses desugarization, ion exchange chromatography resins are used to separate the sucrose (as well as betaine and amino acids) from the molasses. Beet sugar refiners using the desugarization process, primarily in the United States and Europe, now achieve sucrose yields greater than 90 percent. (Beet-Sugar Handbook, 2007)

Ion exchange resins generate additional benefits in sugar beet processing, including de-ashing (removal of inorganic salts), de-calcification (softening), decolorization (to create “white” sugar) and invert sugar production (a mix of fructose and glucose produced by sucrose hydrolysis).

Cane sugar production has similarly been enhanced through ion exchange resin technology. As part of the refining process, raw cane sugar—in liquid form—must go through decolorization to remove its natural yellow or brown color and produce white table sugar. Traditionally, cane sugar has been decolorized by filtration through activated carbon. While carbon filtration removes a significant amount of color from the cane sugar, it does little else to purify the product. The process also requires substantial energy (heat) for carbon regeneration.

Using anionic ion exchange resins, cane sugar refiners can not only remove undesirable color to produce white

sugar, but also remove unwanted inorganic materials (such as salts). As with beet sugar production, the result is a higher yield of sucrose, with less sugar production lost to lower-value molasses.

Highly refined and purified sugars are used as the primary sweetener (fructose) in carbonated soft drinks.

Sugar beets are harvested mechanically, deposited into trucks for transport and delivered to a nearby factory for processing.

At the processing plant, the beet roots are washed, sliced into thin strips called cossettes and passed through a machine called a diffuser to begin sugar extraction.

The diffuser produces raw juice from the beets, which is further processed before it is sent ahead for crystallization and whitening (into “table sugar”).

Through a process called molasses desugarization, ion exchange chromatography resins are used to separate valuable sucrose

from less-valuable molasses.

While molasses contains some sugar, it contains too many impurities to further process economically.

Without ion exchange resins, modern-day techniques to produce corn- and starch-based sweeteners could not readily exist.

Making the Impossible Possible

Without ion exchange resins, modern-day techniques to produce corn- and starch-based sweeteners, including dextrose, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), high-purity HFCS and crystalline fructose, could not readily exist.

Ion exchange resins and adsorbents can be used throughout the processing of corn and other starches, including de-ashing, chromatographic separation of dextrose and fructose, chromatographic purification of dextrose, mixed bed polishing, and color removal. These highly refined and purified sugars and sugar byproducts can be used in a variety of ways, including in ice cream (as a thickening agent), in beer-making and as the primary sweetener (fructose) in carbonated soft drinks.

Modern-day techniques to extract and refine high-quality food and beverage ingredients, such as lactic acid, amino acid, citric acid, lysine and monosodium glutamate (MSG), would be more difficult and costly if not for ion exchange technology. For example, lactic acid, created through fermentation, requires refining to remove minerals, color and other impurities. Ion exchange resins help remove these elements to make lactic acid purer and suitable for consumption in such foods as bread and pasta.

7

Food and beverage processors seek to adsorb desirable substances onto ion exchange resins, and then recover these substances for purification and use elsewhere.

Polyphenol-enriched cocoa extracts aren’t just a sweet dream—they’re a

reality, based on new research-driven technologies and processes.

Extracting Additional Value

In most uses of ion exchange resins, the goal is to remove undesirable substances. However, in some circumstances, food and beverage processors seek to adsorb desirable substances onto the resin, and recover these substances for purification and use elsewhere.

For example, polyphenols have become popular as a nutritional additive in beverages, foods and dietary supplements for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities. Polyphenols are a wide class of natural, synthetic, and semisynthetic chemicals offering a host of potentially beneficial capabilities. In natural form, they are known as “phytochemicals” and found in many plants, including berries, grapes, herbs, coffee, tea, beer, olive oil, pomegranates and several other foods and fruits.

Less than 20 years ago, the term “phytochemical” was barely heard outside of nutritionist circles. While health care practitioners have long known of the positive benefits of consuming polyphenol-rich foods and beverages, companies had not fully capitalized on ways to produce or promote such salutary elements.

Using specialized adsorbent resins, food and beverage processors are able to isolate and capture naturally occurring polyphenols for use as commercially viable nutraceutical additives. For example, a major candy company has developed ways to measure and

characterize polyphenol content in foods, as well as post-harvesting and processing technologies, and has produced a line of commercially successful polyphenol-enriched cocoa extracts.

Several major wine companies are similarly using adsorbent resins to extract polyphenols from grape seeds. Once discarded as a waste product, these grape seeds are now seen as a powerful source of components that show promise for treating a variety of health conditions, including heart disease, wound healing, tooth decay, osteoporosis and skin cancer. Grape seed extracts also appear in a variety of cosmetic, skin care and nutraceutical products.

Plant-derived polyphenols now appear in a variety of cosmetic and skin care products for their antioxidant (anti-aging) effects.

9

Whole milk can be processed and concentrated using reverse osmosis technologies to significantly reduce transportation costs.

Filtration-Driven Efficiencies

In addition to advances using ion exchange technologies, several other food and beverage industries are achieving significant revenue gains and energy cost savings by using reverse osmosis (RO) filtration technologies.

For example, RO can be used in milk production to extract water and produce several desirable byproducts, including milk concentrate and dry whey protein production. According to Membrane System Specialists, whole milk, for instance, can be concentrated with RO to levels of 25-30 percent solids (representing a volume concentration factor of 2 to 2.5X). And by using RO instead of heat-driven evaporation technologies, milk processors avoid the phase changes which occur with evaporation, such as rancidity caused by damaged or ruptured fat molecules (due to heat).

RO milk delivers a host of economic benefits. Ice cream made from RO milk reputedly has a richer, more superior flavor than ice cream derived from non-RO milk. Additionally, companies involved in hauling RO milk achieve significant transportation cost savings by carrying milk in concentrate form.

Less than a generation ago, you never would have heard about “functional foods” or beverages fortified with polyphenols. Today, these products are found throughout the aisles of food retailers.

Researchers are continuing to study and discover new extensions of popular foods and beverages based on their functional and desirable components.

For instance, researchers in Korea recently discovered that cocoa polyphenol extract may suppress the common skin disease psoriasis, which is challenging to treat in many patients.

As food and beverage processors continue to carve out new product niches and categories, as well as seek to increase processing productivity, resin and membrane technologies will help drive these gains.

Future Considerations

LEARN MORE ABOUT ION EXCHANGE RESINS AND REVERSE OSMOSIS FILTRATION TECHNOLOGIES FROM DOW >>

Nearly every day, the sidewalks along San Antonio’s famous River Walk are replete with thousands of residents and tourists, drawn by the alluring appeal of life and ambience found in the cool waters of the San Antonio River. From headwaters that are part of a vast underwater lake, called the Edwards Aquifer, the river flows through downtown San Antonio then southeast for 130 miles before emptying into the Guadalupe River, just shy of the Gulf of Mexico.

To one-time visitors, San Antonio seemingly sits atop a sea of water. But as longtime residents painfully know, San Antonio’s apparent water bounty is a tourist-driven mirage. Situated in one of the most arid parts of the nation, San Antonio leads U.S. cities for having the greatest non-sustainable water supply, according to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Rapid population growth, rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns promise to wreak havoc on San Antonio’s future water supply—and those of similarly water-constrained cities. By 2050, the NRDC projects that one in three U.S. counties will face high risks of water shortages—unless something is done (or something happens) to alter current trends. Globally, the Davos World Economic Forum predicts the world is quickly heading toward “water bankruptcy.”

How Did We Get Here?

“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” wrote the poet Coleridge more than two centuries ago. He easily could have been predicting the state of today’s global water supply. One-sixth of the world’s population lacks access to safe drinking water, according to the World Health Organization.

As our global population soars to 7 billion, the inseparable twins of water and energy are becoming increasingly scarce—and increasingly dependent on one another. Energy is required to make use of water—to extract, move, treat, deliver, use and dispose of it. Similarly, water is required to make use of energy—within most forms of turbine-generate electricity.

Resolving Water-Energy Issues

Industries and municipalities are increasingly turning to technological means to help address the water-energy conundrum.

Improving the Water-Energy Nexus for Global Benefit

//////////////////////////////// THE IMPACT

For example, in recent years, recycled wastewater (also known as grey water) is being used in the cooling towers of thermal cycle power plants. At a single power plant in the Netherlands, more than 2.6 million gallons of household wastewater is used each day to generate high-pressure steam and cool the plant. As a result, the plant uses 65 percent less energy for water, compared with the energy costs of treating and using desalinated seawater.

Reverse osmosis (RO), ion exchange and ultrafiltration technologies are also helping drive reductions in water and energy use. RO is used for seawater desalination (reducing freshwater use), and wastewater treatment and recycling. Ion exchange removes fluid-based contaminants for healthcare, nutrition, food and beverage, mining, chemical processing and industrial and municipal water needs. Ultrafiltration removes undesirable bacteria, viruses, colloids and silt.

Israel’s Ashkelon seawater RO plant is the largest seawater desalination plant in the world, and provides more than 15 percent of Israel’s annual water needs, straight from the Mediterranean Sea. Similarly, three RO plants in Beijing treat more than 45,000 cubic meters of water per day, helping the city achieve its goal of reusing half of its water.

Given current population and energy growth patterns, the world shows no signs of slowing down. Technologies such as RO, ion exchange and ultrafiltration will continue to prove integral to our collective efforts to sustain the world’s water and energy supplies.

To give a sense of energy’s water demands, the following chart lists the number of gallons of water needed to generate one megawatt of energy per hour (one megawatt can power 1,000 homes for an instant).

2,900Gallons of water GEOTHERMAL

1,430Gallons of waterHYDROELECTRIC

1,060Gallons of waterSOLAR THERMAL

720Gallons of waterNUCLEAR

390Gallons of waterCOAL or BIOMASS

140Gallons of waterNATURAL GAS

1 MEGAWATT = 1,000 HOMES POWERED FOR AN INSTANT

THE WATER-ENERGY NEXUS

WANT TO LEARN MORE, READ THE WATER-ENERGY NEXUS WHITE PAPERS >>The Sustainability Challenge >>A Different Look at Water: Part 1 11

Source: U.S. Department of Energy

////////////////////////////////////////////////// TECH SPOTLIGHT

Chemistry, as they say, is everything.

Using breakthrough membrane chemistry, the innovative DOW FILMTEC™ HRLE-440i element helps industrial plants reduce operating costs while maintaining high-quality process water, desalination plants achieve better second-pass rejection and system designers reduce their capital and operating expenses.

The DOW FILMTEC HRLE-440i membrane is a high-rejection, low-energy element that delivers 99.5 percent NaCl rejection at 150psi—33 percent lower pressure than traditional brackish water elements.

In everyday parlance, this means the DOW FILMTEC HRLE-440i helps users lower their energy costs— up to 30 percent less than with traditional brackish water elements. Its small footprint means that users

New Low-Energy RO Element Decreases Operational Costs

Product: DOW FILMTEC™ HRLE 440i

Technology: REVERSE OSMOSIS

Release: Q1 2011

®™ Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow

can shrink their overall system footprint (and reduce energy and operational costs). And it’s an excellent high-purity element, able to screen out such undesirable elements as silica, borate, nitrate and ammonium.

Created using an automated manufacturing process, the DOW FILMTEC™ HRLE-440i membrane offers consistent product quality and performance. It uses patented i LEC interconnectors for reliable installation and minimized o-ring leakage and is available as a dry element for improved shelf life and ease of installation.

For new and existing RO systems designed around low-energy membranes, the DOW FILMTEC HRLE-440i membrane improves product water quality and lowers energy costs.

WANT TO SEE THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR DOW FILMTEC™ HRLE 440i >>

Innovative element coupling technology.

™

13®™ Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow

//////////////////////////////// GLOBAL NEWS

SPAIN

The Tarragona Global Water Technology Center grand opening is Thursday, June 9, 2011. The Center is designed to accelerate Dow’s water treatment technologies to aid production of clean drinking water from many sources, including seawater.

Clean water is one of the most pressing challenges facing the world in the 21st century, and Dow, as part of its 2015 Sustainability Goals, has made sustainable water development a key component of its future strategies.

The Center will house as many as 25 researchers developing next-generation clean water technology, and will seek to replicate real-world operating conditions in large-scale pilot plants. The Center’s proximity to the Mediterranean Sea provides immediate access to seawater, brackish water, municipal wastewater and treated river water sources.

CHINA

Dow Water & Process Solutions announced in early 2011 a $25 million expansion of its Huzhou production facility in Zhejiang province, China. The investment will enhance the Huzhou development zone’s water quality standards and

increase employment at the Huzhou facility.

HAITI

Dow Water & Process Solutions partnered with Pure Water for the World, Inc., to provide water purification in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Two containerized UF/RO systems were installed at two sites: one a hospital in

Port-au-Prince, and the other at a hospital in Leogane.

ISRAEL

The Soreq Seawater Desalination Plant will be the world’s largest user of 16-inch DOW FILMTEC™ RO membranes. Located 9 miles south of Tel Aviv, Israel, the Soreq plant is expected to produce up to 39.6 billion gallons of drinking

water annually.

Clean Water: Tarragona is drinking it up.

14

CALENDAR ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Keep abreast here of upcoming gatherings and meetings of interest for those working in or affiliated with the water and process solutions industries.

Click on event or conference for more information.

Up and Coming

MAY

JUNE

10–11Pharmaceutical

ExcipientFest Americas

Renaissance Harborplace Hotel Baltimore, MD NAA

22–24Pharmaceutical

TIDES

Hynes Convention Center Boston, MA NAA

19–21Water

Ozwater 11

Adelaide Convention Centre Adelaide, Australia APAC

16–18Desalination | Wastewater Reuse

IDA—Desal Industry Action for Good

Grand Hotel Mirammare, Santa Margherita Portofino, Italy Europe

04–08Desalination | RO

NAMS 2011

Bally’s Las Vegas, NV NAA

21–24Power Generation

EPRI Low Level Waste Conference

Astor Crowne Plaza New Orleans, LA NAA

11–14Nutrition

IFT Food Expo

New Orleans Morial Convention Center New Orleans, LA NAA

09Grand Opening

Global Water Technology Development Center in Tarragona, Spain

Dow Chemical Iberica and Dow Dow Water & Process Solutions Global Water Technology Development Center Tarragona, Spain

15

Pharmaceutical IndustryFrom proper dissolution of controlled ingredients to improved release rates, taste and stabilization characteristics, ion exchange resins are integral for helping improve the characteristics of many pharmaceuticals.

Municipal WaterMuch of the world takes its clean and safe municipal water for granted. We shouldn’t. Amid a host of potentially harmful pathogens and chemicals, we’ll discuss what it takes to create crystal-clear water efficiently and cost-effectively.

Tech SpotlightDow’s reverse-osmosis membrane elements are integral to the food and dairy industries. Learn more about nanofiltration elements for food and processing applications.

What’s next in

?There are lots of exciting things happening right now in the world of water and process solutions that we can’t wait to discuss here in the I•de–um. Ways to make water safer and more accessible, food and beverages taste better, pharmaceutical manufacturing processes more effective and industries more efficient. Here are just a few areas we’ll be covering in future issues:

®™ Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow

NEXT ISSUE: July 2011

www.dowwaterandprocess.com