Membrana Announces a New Alliance with CELMEM Network Inc.

Charlotte, NC. Membrana, the world-leading supplier of degasification membrane devices is pleased to announce that they have entered into an exclusive agreement with CELMEM Network Inc. CELMEM will be the exclusive agent for all Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactor devices sold into China and Taiwan beginning on January 1, 2004.

Mr. Terence Kao is the new director of CELMEM Network Inc. He stated 'CELMEM will be able to provide better support to end users in the China and Taiwan regions who are interested in Liqui-Cel Membrane Products. The same customer support personnel that end users and OEM's have been working with for the last 4 years will continue providing support for the Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactor products under the new company name.

Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactors are used around the world for adding or removing Oxygen (O2), Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Nitrogen (N2) to or from different liquids in the Semiconductor, Power, Pharmaceutical, Photographic, Food and Beverage, and many other industries. For example, it is known that O2 negatively impacts many processes; it is corrosive and can oxidize materials. In the power and industrial areas, piping and equipment are susceptible to corrosion. Specifically to the semiconductor market, high levels of O2 can cause lower wafer yields. Additionally, CO2 negatively impacts performance of EDI and Ion Exchange. The Liqui-Cel Contactors offer a modular solution for O2/CO2 removal before these processes without chemicals.

Liqui-Cel Contactors are also used to add gasses to liquids to enhance megasonic cleaning. The beverage industry looks to membrane contactors for carbonation, nitrogenation and O2 removal. These reflect only a few examples of the variety of applications where the Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactors are used. New applications are constantly being developed.

Additionally, Membrana offers liquid ring vacuum pumps, eductors and Orbisphere sensors to complement the membrane contactors.

Membrana´s Industrial Membrane Group also manufactures a variety of membranes used for filtration in various industries and applications. Manufacturing facilities are located in the USA and Europe. Global markets are served through sales offices and affiliates in North America, Europe, Japan, South East Asia and China.