History

1975: Conny reads the book 'Living Water' by Viktor Schauberger and his interest in natural phenomenons begins. 

1975-85: Conny studies the principles of natural laws and systems. During these years Conny works at Atlas Copco and ASEA-ATOM among other companies.

1985-91:  Joins a project at ASEA Transformers (Now ABB Transformers) to minimise particles in transfomer oil. The transformers Conny and his team were working on ranged from 200 to 300 tonnes (441 000-661 000lbs). The team managed to substantially improve delivery performance and eliminated the need for repairs. During these years Conny realised that the traditional way of using static filters required a lot of energy and his interest of a natural approach grew.

1995: Conny’s interest in biomimetic filtration didn’t stop him from producing a remarkable static filter. In the fall of 1995 Conny joined Allergitåget (Asthma and Allergy Association) where he introduced a bed chamber with a static filter with a filtration degree of 99.9999999%. The filter didn’t even let the smell of coffee into the bed chamber. Ivo Martinac at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm performed the objective studies.

1998: In the fall of 1998 Conny realised how his design could bring biomimetic particle separation to our daily lives. He got the idea while cleaning the kitchen hood in his home, tired of having to clean the traditional filters regularly. The ParticleTrap™ project was born.

1999: McDonalds in Örebro, Sweden bought and installed the first ParticleTrap™ to handle fat aerosols in their kitchen outlets. During the following years Conny partnered with JohnsonDiversey (now Diverseysolutions) who delivered ParticleTraps™ to McDonalds and Max Hamburgers, around 20 restaurants in total. Not only did it greatly reduce the need for maintenance, the restaurants no longer emitted food odours. The fat was separated into containers for easy disposal.

2006: ParticleTrap™ catches AstraZeneca's attention. 

2008: AstraZeneca asks Örebro University to start a pre study of ParticleTrap™ using computer simulations. The study took place in September 2008 stretching to April 2010. The study took a long time because they had to invent simulation tools and new calculation modules.

2010: The finalised study was brought to the production management at AstraZeneca. They did not believe the numbers and decided to put it to test physically in their own laboratories. It commenced and was finalised in December 2010. The results not only proved the pre study but went even further showing extraordinary results: up to and around 100% particle separation. 

2012: In November 2012 Vattenfall AB laboratories in Älvkaleby, Sweden performed a stress test with a single ParticleTrap™. The material consisted of high-risk waste (fly ash) from a nearby power plant. The test results showed that ParticleTrap™ did not only stop particles from being released into the environment but also separated them into base elements. The captured material can be processed and reused as raw material.

2014: A mineral producing company in Sweden performed a test with a cluster of three ParticleTraps™. They separated their finest quality mineral powder in the range of 0-10 micron. The test results showed 99.5-99.96% separation. Only 2.43mg/Nm3 escaped in the best performing test while 11.91mg/Nm3 escaped in the worst performing test. New laws in Europe demands a maximum release of 30mg/Nm3 which we think ParticleTrap™ could reduce further. Important note: These results were achieved with pilot ParticleTraps™ not optimised for the specific material. A fully optimised equipment would lower these numbers greatly. 

2015: A subsidiary of Lundin Mining Corporation - Zinkgruvan Mining AB bought and installed a pilot ParticleTrap™ in the fall of 2015. The intention was to separate particles from leachate water. The test results further proved the technology and they witnessed around 50% reduction of particles in already filtered and approved leachate water. The captured material consists of minerals that adds to the total yield of the mining operation.

In December of 2015 we filed a new patent.

2016: Conny Norman met colleague Jens Liljegren on Martinique, Caribbean. Both having traversed the North Atlantic Ocean in two separate yachts. It didn’t take long before conversations about ParticleTrap™ emerged. Jens quickly realised that Conny needed help with marketing of ParticleTrap™ and started building a new website in the spring of 2016. In July 2016 we joined Sustainable Business Hub and International Cleantech Network (ICN) additionally we are now in talks with the Swedish Environmental Institute (IVL) and the Swedish Technical Research Institute (SP). For the latest news please visit the news section of this webpage.

2017: Updated patents fully approved. PCT running.

2018: In 2017/2018 we presented the Technology in five Chinese provinces during a Sino-EU delegation. We also flew to India for tests at an industry in Early 2018.