South Korea's SK Ecoplant localizes core tech to make ultrapure water

South Korea's SK Ecoplant Co. is expanding its portfolio in the water industry through localizing core technology to produce ultrapure water (UPW), a necessity in the semiconductor process.

The company on Tuesday said it signed an agreement on R&D and investment in core technologies for UPW with Sepratek, a Korean company specializing in membrane manufacturing and processes.

Under this agreement, SK Ecoplant will participate in the development of membrane degassing among projects for the technological development of the domestic production process for UPW promoted by the Ministry of Environment.

UPW is highly purified water from which impurities are removed to extremely low content to near 100% purity and mainly used for ultra-fine processing and cleaning of nanometer units such as semiconductors, solar panels, secondary batteries and liquid crystal displays.

UPW production requires 15-20 processes depending on use, and membrane degassing is one of the three highly advanced core technologies in this process.

Founded in 2006, Sepratek specializes in membrane manufacturing and provides services necessary for process and system design using membrane technology.

Based on its water treatment know-how accumulated over the years, SK Ecoplant will promote R&D with Sepratek.

SK Ecoplant will secure key technologies such as creation of the form of a membrane degassing module that removes impurities from water and support their commercialization. In addition to simple joint research, it will acquire an 18% stake in Sepratek to support investment in R&D.

Write to Jong-Pil Park at jp@hankyung.com