Lockheed Martin Corp

Lockheed Martin Corp Graphene Investment

Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE:LMT), a defense contractor, has made a groundbreaking discovery in the use of graphene’s ultra filtration properties to purify water for use at a f

Lockheed Martin Corp

raction of the costs. Not only does the use of graphene to filter water save on costs, it also saves a lot of energy that goes into the removal of salts, gases and other particles from water to make it consumable. This is a major step in addressing the acute water shortage which is now becoming a concern in global security.

By using graphene, manufacturers can now make thin filter membranes from carbon. With regular nanometer sized holes, which are big enough to allow only water to sip through, these filters can block salt molecules in seawater thus making it fresh for use.

Since graphene is basically pure carbon, it can be used to make thin (one-atom thin) sheets of filters.
The filters are five hundred times thinner than the thinnest filter available in the current market. The graphene filters are also stronger by a thousand times the ordinary filters. This saves a lot in terms of the energy since only a small amount of energy is used to push the salty water through the one layered filter. Energy is used only in separating the salt from the water.

Savings could also come in the form of not having to build expensive stations used to pump water in plants where the reverse osmosis, a desalination process, is used.

With a hundred times cut in the energy consumption and pressure used currently to filter water, Lockheed Martin Corp leads the way to meeting the challenge of water scarcity. It is reported that clean water for drinking is becoming rare with each passing day globally. Increased water competition will potentially lead to failure in some countries due to instability. This calls for effective and efficient methods of harvesting and preserving water.