#	Pagina
attuale pagina	/open-h2020/projects/196817/results.html

Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - REMEB (ECO-FRIENDLY CERAMIC MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR (MBR) BASED ON RECYCLED AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES FOR WASTE WATER REUSE)

Teaser

Summary

As the effluent standards for municipal wastewater treatment plants are tightening, Water Boards are investing more in technologies for wastewater treatments, which can drastically enhance the effluent quality, and bring new opportunities and possibilities to reuse the effluent (agriculture, industrial uses, recovery of humid zones, street cleaning and recreational uses, etc.). With this regard, wastewater treatment through the use of membrane bioreactor (MBR) can be an exceptional alternative to increase the reclaimed water as a worldwide application. However, the main problem of the current MBRs is the high cost of the technology, which is limiting the wide market deployment of this kind of technology. REMEB project proposes a new type of MBR which will significantly decrease the cost of the technology. The problem of current inorganic membranes is their high cost. REMEB ceramic membranes are based on low-cost materials, by-products from agricultural and industrial processes, such as olive stones (from olive oil production) used as pore formers, marble powder and chamotte (from fired tile scrap). By means of the introduction of these waste products, the price of the low cost ceramic membrane will be reduced in comparison with commercial ceramic membranes, made from alumina, zirconia or titania. In summary, the overall objectives of the REMEB project are the implementation and validation of a low-cost ceramic membrane bioreactor (MBR) in a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), the study of the impact and replication of the technology for the water reuse in regions with water scarcity and the industrial sector, and finally, the definition of a proper business plan to start the commercialization of the technology, once the project will be finished.

Work performed

All the work carried out during this reporting period has been oriented towards the manufacture of the low-cost ceramic membranes in a ceramic tile industry. In addition, it has been designed and constructed the REMEB MBR based on flat-sheet inorganic membranes and the conditioning of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) where the MBR is going to be validated (Aledo WWTP, located in Murcia, Spain). At this point of the project, the main aspects related to the development of the project are defined as follows:
Firstly, the work has been focused in the analysis of the manufacturing process where the ceramic membranes are being developed, assessing the different processes and identifying the ceramic company which will be in charge of the production of the membranes. It has also been developed a detailed assessment of the work previously done in other projects and studies; and it has been performed an analysis of the operation of Aledo WWTP in order to prepare the implementation of the REMEB MBR (WP2).
Within this period, the procedure for manufacturing the membranes it has been already defined, starting the production of different sets of industrial membranes, done by the selected external ceramic company (WP3). Currently, partners are working in the optimization of the process and the exploration of wastes of different sources from Italy, Turkey and Spain. This work has been complemented by the manufacturing of the REMEB cassette and the design and construction of the full MBR at real scale to be delivered in Aledo WWTP (WP4).
Related to non-technological activities, REMEB partners have worked in the replication of the technology (WP5), exploitation aspects (WP6) and very intensively, in the dissemination and communication actions of the project (WP7).
Regarding technical results and the degree of achievement of the objectives, it can be stated the following:
- The REMEB MBR has been assembled and it is ready to be validated. At the moment all the elements are being fixed and hydraulic, electrical and automation tests are being carried out.
- Estimations on the price reduction of the new membranes based on waste products from different agricultural and industrial processes is aligned with the expected ones, being lower than commercial ceramic membranes.
- The first REMEB membranes have been manufactured at pilot and industrial scale using recycled materials, with promising results related to water permeability and mean pore size.

Final results

Up-to-now, the employment of ceramic membranes becomes unviable in a great number of applications, such as municipal wastewater treatment, due to the high economic costs that they imply. Therefore, this is the reason why this system is not widely implanted in the sector. Ceramic membranes present noteworthy benefits that make them particularly appropriate for their application in MBR systems. The main advantages of ceramic membranes are their better chemical, thermal and mechanical properties, which make possible to operate them under severe conditions and also to apply harsh cleaning procedures (high temperature and strong cleaning reagents). The ceramic membranes functionality in the filtration treatments is based on its high permeability and reduced pore size. This is usually achieved by the combination of a porous support and a selective layer with a reduced thickness and small pore size. High permeability supports are normally obtained by the addition of pore formers, materials that are oxidized or decomposed during the sintering step, generating the required support porosity. The most widely used pore former in low cost ceramic membranes are starches from different sources. Nevertheless, different waste products, such as orujillo, paper industry wastes or almond shell have been employed as pore formers.
The utilization of industrial or agroindustrial wastes as pore formers had not been applied previously in the manufacture of ceramic membranes. In addition, until now, no other types of wastes, such as marble dust or chamotte, have been included in the composition. These materials are not pore formers, but can be introduced in the ceramic membranes composition, to provide calcium oxide (marble dust) or to improve the extrusion performance. REMEB has developed this double approach, including both kinds of wastes to reduce the cost of the membranes.
Concerning the impact of the developed solution, it can be mentioned the economic impact, related to the exploitation potential and the good commercial prospects of the technology. Although the specific business plan will be developed during the second part of the project, it has been already perceived a great interest from the industry in the progress of the project and the future replication actions to be performed. With this regard, a specific action plan is being defined within WP5 and WP6 in order to define these aspects. The future exploitation actions will provide new market opportunities and jobs and will contribute to position Europe as global leader in water technologies. Regarding the environmental and societal aspects, the introduction of this kind of technology will foster the concepts of circular economy by reusing different kind of wastes for the membrane manufacturing and increasing the possibilities to enhance the water effluent quality in WWTPs. The MBR will bring new opportunities and possibilities to reuse the effluent. All these aspects will be very positive for the water sector and, also, for the final users.