Transformative technology to fight water scarcity
A shared experience of water scarcity motivated three University of Birmingham graduates, Abdulbari Belouafi, Kamal Diab and Ibrahim Albaik, to start NovNat Tech Ltd in 2022. Their aim is to develop an advanced industrial-scale Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) system that can generate water from thin air.
L-R: Abdulbari Belouafi, Kamal Diab and Ibrahim Albaik
The company entered Unit 9 after receiving funding from the Climate Innovation Platform (CIP), and has since moved to a new laboratory at Birmingham Research Park, after securing a grant from Innovate UK. The founders have used their grant funding to develop a prototype which is producing 15 litres of water daily. “We understand the global water scarcity crisis cannot be solved with just one technology or company, but we can play a major part in addressing it through focussing on industrial operators that are located in water-stressed areas,” says CEO and co-founder Mr Belouafi.
The technology is a metal organic framework (MOF) material, a sponge-like material that is tuned to absorb humidity from the air and turn it into pure water. For now, the company is targeting geothermal power plants and data centres which need a lot of water for cooling. Data centre power demand is expected to rise by 160% by 2030 due to the growing demands of AI. The alternative to water cooling is air cooling which drops in efficiency during the summer months.
The proprietary MOF material—described as transformative technology—has applications beyond AWG and the company is prioritising R&D on the materials.
Mr Belouafi says Unit 9 has been critical to the group’s growth. He also credits the Research Park with helping the team navigate a steep learning curve as they entered the business and startup world.
The company has secured over £1 million from Innovate UK and is currently in the process of raising its first round of investment.
We couldn’t have gotten a better place than Unit 9 at the time. It was ideal for us. We built our demonstrator there and developed our unique water-capturing materials which are all patent-pending.
