Four Problems, One Solution
Power plants worldwide that are cooled by seawater face challenges from scale and barnacles that obstruct pipes and waste energy. Israeli startup Ceal Minerals offers a solution that overcomes these obstacles by creating a clean and valuable industrial mineral.
Deep beneath power plants’ cooling towers and their massive piping networks, the ocean wages its quiet battle as mussels, shells, and layers of calcium carbonate build up inside the pipes, a process known as biofouling and scale. The results involve water flow slowing down, pumps straining, energy is wasted, and maintenance becomes an endless, costly fight.
Today’s standard solution relies on pumping toxic chemicals into the system.
This process kills some of the marine organisms but does not remove scale, and so, it only constitutes a temporary solution, one with a heavy environmental cost. All chemicals are discharged back into the sea, harming marine ecosystems. At the same time, regulations strictly limit the amount and type of chemicals allowed, and the fix is consequently short-term, with the problem recurring shortly after.
That’s where Mati Shani, a veteran and experienced high-tech professional, comes in. As a high-tech veteran with 25 years’ experience, Shani set out to create a new climate tech venture. He joined forces with Dr. Charlotte Vogt, PI at the Technion. This collaboration between her lab, which produced the scientific foundation, and Shani’s business and industrial model gave rise to Ceal Minerals.
The concept is both elegantly simple and technically advanced: stopping the buildup before it begins, not by fighting deposits with toxins but rather by controlling the basic elements in seawater. Rather than allowing calcium and carbon to form stubborn layers inside the pipes, Ceal’s system triggers their crystallization from the outside, in a clean, controlled environment. Instead of a costly, polluting hazard, the outcome is a valuable, sought-after industrial raw material.
More Value, Less Pollution
Ceal’s technology is built on an electrochemical mineralization process. By applying a gentle electric current to seawater, the dissolved calcium and carbon are induced to crystallize as calcium carbonate – not inside clogged pipes, but in a clean, controlled environment. The outcome is precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), a raw material in high demand across various industries, including paints, plastics, paper, pharmaceuticals, and food.
Today, most calcium carbonate is produced by quarrying limestone. This polluting process emits large amounts of greenhouse gases and generates fine dust, one of the primary causes of respiratory illnesses among children. Ceal offers a clean alternative: one that uses a mineral derived from seawater, while simultaneously preventing scale buildup in industrial pipes.
At the end of the process, the system produces two outputs: calcium-depleted water, suitable for blockage-free cooling cycles, and high-quality calcium carbonate that can be sold or reused on-site. The benefits involve cost savings, an additional revenue stream, and a significant reduction in the carbon footprint.
The technological core of the system is an electrochemical cell, designed as modular cathode layers (the electrode to which positive ions are drawn), a membrane (acting as a selective filter), and an anode (the electrode to which negative ions are drawn). As seawater flows between the layers, the electric current initiates the precise chemical reaction necessary for calcium and carbon to bond into calcium carbonate, which then flows into a collection tank. The minerals sink while the treated water continues to its destination as cooling liquid.
Because power plants consume enormous amounts of seawater for cooling, approximately 150,000 cubic meters on average, the equivalent of about 45 Olympic-sized swimming pools every hour – the system is installed next to the shoreline. The vast volumes of water involved make transporting it inland impracticable.
Ceal’s solution is unique, both in its method and its market positioning. While most biofouling and limescale solutions focus on chemicals or localized physical treatments, Ceal turns the challenge into a resource, producing a clean, commercial mineral, thereby combining an environmental solution and genuine economic value.
From Feasibility to Reality
Ceal was founded in April 2024, after receiving a grant under Israel’s “Blue Economy” Program. The grant required the creation of a company, along with financial and operational infrastructure, and a clearly defined business model. According to co-founder Mati Shani, the Startup Program (the pre-seed track) of the Israel Innovation Authority played a pivotal role. “The fund gave us the confidence to start at a scale where we could manage, show results, and then expand,” says Shani. “Without it, we might have remained stuck at the ideation stage for longer.”
Shani adds that in fields such as Climate Tech and Deep Tech, which are characterized by long development cycles and high risks, these early-stage grants provide the “initial oxygen” needed for ideas that can reshape entire industries. “An investment from the Israel Innovation Authority also serves as a local and global seal of quality,” Shani adds. “When VCs see that a company has received an Innovation Authority grant, they view the risk differently, often enabling them to take a calculated risk, allow the company to hire the right team, and build a product with real global potential.”
Ceal completed a pre-seed funding round from two US-based funds, complemented by continued support from the Israel Innovation Authority’s Startup Program and a strategic investment from the Israel Electric Company. Along the way, the company deliberately shifted its fundraising strategy. Instead of pursuing a large, short-term round, it opted to start on a smaller scale that would enable it to build a working prototype, deliver proof of concept, and expand later.
Today, Ceal operates out of the National Institute of Oceanography in Haifa. Based on real seawater treatment, its first pilot system began operation in December 2024. A larger-scale industrial prototype, a 2-meter by 3-meter outdoor unit, is now being tested. The company’s initial target market is the 1,100 seawater-cooled power plants worldwide, regardless of their energy source.
A key advantage of Ceal’s solution lies in its modular design. The system requires no new infrastructure beyond the system itself; instead, it integrates into existing water flows. Its electricity consumption is relatively low, as it utilizes the plant’s own pumping system. The ability to install the system externally, without altering the facility’s core operations, enables rapid deployment and an immediate environmental impact.
The company’s business roadmap envisions gradual market penetration, beginning with a pilot project with the Israel Electric Corporation in the coming year, followed by expanded activity alongside serial production of systems for smaller industrial facilities within five years. Shani forecasts that the company will achieve global penetration in the power plant sector within a decade and, in 15 years, aims to be installing around 30 systems annually. The business model combines system sales with profit sharing from selling the minerals produced.
Ceal positions itself at the forefront of complex solutions and technologies that tackle multiple industrial problems simultaneously. In this case, preventing scale and biofouling, reducing carbon emissions, producing a clean industrial raw material, and bringing financial savings for the users. This combination gives the company a clear competitive edge, both in comparison to existing solutions and in markets facing strict demands to meet environmental targets.
The technology’s potential extends beyond power plants. Future adaptations could target desalination facilities, chemical plants, and other industries that utilize seawater for their operations. However, breaking into those markets requires compliance with additional regulations – for example, drinking-water standards – and further stages of development.
The primary challenge at present is transitioning from proof of concept to full-scale industrial operations. To this end, Ceal is focused on building partnerships with major energy players, raising additional resources, and expanding production capacity. The support received from the Innovation Authority’s Startup Program, combined with international investors, provides the initial financial infrastructure for this next stage.
In a sector where the effectiveness of existing solutions is limited and regulators are tightening restrictions on chemical use, Ceal’s model offers an innovative alternative that combines sustainability, circular economy principles, and operational efficiency. If the company achieves its goals, it could redefine how heavy industry addresses one of its most common and costly problems, thereby turning an environmental threat into an economic opportunity.
