Project: Development and testing of a novel photocatalytic system for efficient cogeneration of clean water and hydrogen for ecosafe agriculture
| Acronym | ECOSAFEFARMING (Reference Number: WaterJPI-JC-2016_08) |
| Duration | 15/06/2017 - 14/06/2020 |
| Project Topic | The aim of this project is to develop and implement a novel and energy efficient tertiary treatment technology enabling reuse of treated urban wastewater (UWW) in agricultural irrigation. The project also addresses issues related to safe food production, e.g. cross-contamination and genetic mutation. As a first step the new photocatalytic treatment reactors will be developed using on-site energy resources (solar and UV). Photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) and electrodialysis (ED) desalination processes will be integrated to well-studied photocatalytic treatment to design a new photocatalytic electrodialysis (PCED) reactor. The novelty of this new approach is that integration of photoactive photoanode electrode with a membrane stacking to water treatment units for production of clean, inherently nutrient rich irrigation water and hydrogen from treated UWW has not been studied previously. Efficient treatment-disinfection and desalination are expected by this new energy free PCED reactor system. PCED is further modified with a photoactive membrane to allow the cogeneration of clean water and hydrogen (H2-PCED) put into practice from a single source of energy and wastewater. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) will be integrated with solar energy to define efficient water treatment configuration(s) to be applied for irrigation of land and hydroponic greenhouse crops. Health risk assessments of solar wastewater reuse system(s) will be conducted by monitoring emerging pollutants, microbial indicators in agri-food and any ecotoxic/genotoxic impacts in water, soil and crops. This project will be coordinated by Istanbul University (IU) with the partnerships of University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas - Solar Platform of Almería (CIEMAT-PSA), Brandenburg University of Technology (BUT) and MIR Research&Development Inc. (MIR). |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | WaterWorks2015 |
| Call | 2016 JOINT CALL: Sustainable management of water resources in agriculture, forestry and freshwater aquaculture sectors |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Istanbul University | Coordinator | Türkiye |
| 2 | MIR Arastirma ve Gelistirme A.S. | Partner | Türkiye |
| 3 | Brandenburg University of Technology | Partner | Germany |
| 4 | University Of Ontario Institute Of Technology | Partner | Canada |
| 5 | Ciemat-plataforma solar de Almeira (public research centre) | Partner | Spain |