Objetivo
The standards for arsenic in drinking water have been revised; in Europe, through the Directive 98/83/CE, and in the U.S.. the new Maximum Contaminant Level is now 10 μgAs/L. Fulfilling these new requirements is therefore urgent and it will be a major challenge for the water supply companies, as existing technologies are partly meeting these needs. The major issue in the new Arsenic limit is the associated costs to the water treatment facilities. The common methods have been found to be cost effective only at a large scale, where labor costs are spread over a larger amount of treated water produced. The water treatment cost using conventional adsorbents ranges from 6.7-40 €/100m3 (assuming adsorption capacity 1-3gAs/kg and adsorbent cost 5-10€/kg). Consequently, the main disadvantage of the available conventional adsorbent treatment technologies for arsenic removal seems to be the high cost of adsorbents. Additionally, Arsenic residuals have varying toxicity and mobility; thus, they require further treatment prior to disposal, which increases the total cost. The aim of this proposal is to develop a low-cost material (< 2 € per kg of material) that will be used in water treatment plants to absorb Arsenic from drinking water with high efficiency (> 99% As removal) and low operational cost. This will be accomplished with the use of iron-based adsorptive media FeSO4 and Mn+2 and O3 as catalysts. As Mn+2 accelerates the production of iron oxy-hydroxides, it increases the adsorption performance. Furthermore, FeSO4 is considered as relatively low-cost material, making the proposed technology economically viable. This new adsorbent will have low capital cost and the water treatment system in which it will be integrated will have low energy consumption, low maintenance costs and reduced plant size. The AquAsZero project impacts on the market of chemicals used in water treatment systems to remove Arsenic and on the manufacturers of water treatment units.
Ámbito científico
Tema(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
FP7-SME-2008-1
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoria
Régimen de financiación
BSG-SME - Research for SMEsCoordinador
57022 THESSALONIKI
Grecia