Former PCI Managers Form New Membrane Company
Three executives with over 70 years of combined experience working with a broad range of membrane filtration technologies have formed a new company called Membrane Specialists LLC, based in Hamilton, Ohio.
The firm supplies a full range of membrane equipment and process-development services, using all available membrane geometries including polymeric tubular, spiral-wound and hollow-fiber membranes, as well as inorganic ceramic and stainless-steel membranes.
The three partners behind Membrane Specialists – David Pearson, Peter Allan, and Lewis Pain – are all formerly associated with PCI Membrane Systems, Inc. (a unit of the Water & Wastewater Division of ITT), and the new company has been named as exclusive distributors of PCI Membrane products in the Americas.
Together, the principals have been involved in projects in the industrial, niofuels/bioproducts, food & beverage, nutraceuticals and water-treatment markets, and are skilled in helping customers develop new membrane-based processes. The new company can supply customized filtration and separation solutions using microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis technologies sourced from PCI or any other supplier.
The firm’s 12,000-square-foot facility includes administrative and engineering offices, a laboratory/test area, an assembly bay and warehouse. An inventory of module and membrane spares is maintained at this location, along with pilot plant and test equipment.
David Pearson graduated from Oxford University in Engineering Science. He spent 10 years with PCI Membranes in sales management and marketing roles in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States in 1997 to be the general manager of PCI Membrane Systems Inc.
Lewis Pain graduated in Environmental Chemical Engineering from Exeter University in the United Kingdom. He came to the United States in 1983 as a technical liaison between PCI Membranes in the UK and the US distributor. During his time at PCI, his responsibilities included sales management, marketing, commissioning, and process development.
Peter Allan is a graduate of California State University, Fresno, with a bachelor of agricultural sciences degree. He has sold and serviced membranes and membrane systems since 1985. He joined PCI in 1994, where he worked sales and service.
Membrane Specialists has been established with the full support of the former parent company of PCI Membranes – ITT Water and Wastewater AB – which continues to produce the PCI tubular membrane products and the associated spare parts in Poznan, Poland.