Project: CECs and AMR bacteria pre-concentration by ultra-nano filtration and Abatement by ThermoCatalytic Nano-powders implementing circular economy solution.
| Acronym | NanoTheC-Aba (Reference Number: ID 402) |
| Duration | 01/09/2021 - 31/08/2024 |
| Project Topic | The project will deliver an energy efficient new integrated prototype system for water purification, composed of: the first-to-berealised ultra-stable silicon carbide (SiC) UltraFiltration/NanoFiltration (UF/NF) membrane a innovative nano-enabled Thermocatalytic energy efficient Packed-Bed Reactor (TPBR), and a nano-enabled antimicrobial MicroFiltration (MF) membrane. The TPBR beads are obtained by recycling SiC membranes scraps deriving from the ordinary production process and will be coated with thermocatalytic perovskite-nanopowders allowing full abatement of CECs and of AMR pathogens at mild temperatures without need of chemicals and light sources. The MF membrane is coated with antibacterial titania-silica-core shell nanoparticles for inactivating AMR bacteria, while removing suspended solids. The UF/NF membrane separates the clean permeate stream, ready to be recycled or reused, from the toxic concentrate, which is purified by the TPBR, thus preventing discharge of CECs and pathogens in rivers and oceans. The new system is compact, amenable to scale-up, and ease to integrate in mariculture, aquaculture, tannery, hospital, and other industrial wastewaters treatment facilities, providing safe and efficient operation. The integration of the three components allows the optimization of each system unit both alone and in combination, boosting the efficiency of the process and ensuring high water quality and safety, by enabling a water and SiC recycling multi-circular model |
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Project Results (after finalisation) |
The primary objective of the action is the production of an integrated system made of a prefiltering unit with antibacterial functionality (AM-MF), an ultra/nanofiltration membrane (UF/NF) for pre-concentration of the CECs contaminated water and a thermocatalytic packed bed reactor for the generation of OH radicals able to abate CECs and residues of AMR bacteria via an Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP). The prototype system aims at providing abatement (> 99%) of the largest spectrum of CECs and AMR-pathogens, and the complete reuse of process effluents, thus minimizing disposal of wastewater in the environament, reducing the water treatment cost of at least 30% in the four case studies while keeping the running costs of the process 0.10€/m3 wastewater for large scale and 0.15€/m3 for small medium scale plants. The project will develop an integrated one step water treatment prototype system providing high abatement rate and energy efficiency based on: nanotechnology solutions, novel SiC NF membrane manufacturing and implementing a multilevel circular economy model. Indeed, SiC scraps from membrane production will be used as support for the themocatalyst.The thermocatalytic process will require mild temperatures (~30°-40°C) and no need of further chemical agents nor UV or light sources to realize AOP. |
| Network | AquaticPollutants |
| Call | 1st AquaticPollutants Joint Call 2020 |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torino University | Coordinator | Italy |
| 2 | National Research Council (CNR) | Partner | Italy |
| 3 | LiqTech International A/S | Partner | Denmark |
| 4 | Aalborg University | Partner | Denmark |
| 5 | CeNTI - Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials | Partner | Portugal |