LG Chem To Invest in Membranes

LG Chem, ranked one of the world’s largest chemical companies and leading manufacturer of specialty polymers and lithium ion batteries, recently completed the construction of its large-scale reverse osmosis (RO) membrane plant in Cheongju, a city in the Chungbuk province of South Korea.

In September 2015, LG Chem commenced commercial operations in its new factory in which it invested 40 billion KRW (US$35 million), as part of its plans to aggressively grow its new Water Solutions business unit.

In recent months, the company has secured multiple large-scale projects across the globe and was chosen to be the exclusive RO membrane supplier for eight large seawater desalination projects. All this has made for a very successful debut for LG Chem in the competitive membrane desalination market, where it has leveraged its patented “thin-film nanocomposite” membrane technology.

LG Chem’s unique RO membrane formulation features benign nanoparticles embedded into the top polyamide layer of its thin-film composite membrane. This allows for significantly improved membrane efficiency and productivity when compared to the competition, offering up to 99.85% salt rejection - the highest in the industry. The company is also continuing to expand its line of brackish water RO membranes for industrial applications and has recently released products for the residential RO membrane market.

In addition, LG Chem plans to invest another 40 billion KRW (US$35 million) this year on the growth and expansion of its LG Water Solutions group, along with significant advances in its innovative membrane product line and manufacturing operations.

The company has aggressive goals to expand its global network of sales offices across 17 countries, thus further accelerating its development of new markets and cultivation of existing applications.

Current research suggests that the global market for RO membranes will grow from last year’s 1.4 trillion KRW (US$1.1 billion) to 1.8 trillion (US$1.5 billion) in 2018. LG Chem, through its Water Solutions business unit, plans to further develop its RO membrane technology and establish a leadership position among its competitors

“We are making huge strides in the build-up of our LG Water Solutions business unit,” said Chul Nam, president of LG Water Solutions.

“LG Chem is investing heavily into markets of opportunity that will have a greater impact on the company’s long-term stability and sustainability. The demand for clean water is going to remain our top socioeconomic crisis, and LG Chem is focused on developing solutions to alleviate this problem.”

www.LGwatersolutions.com