Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ReWaCEM (Ressource recovery from industrial waste water by cutting edge membrane technologies)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2018-04-01 do 2019-11-30
The main objective of the proposed project is the application and demonstration of innovative and efficient water treatment technologies with the effect of a significant reduction of water use, waste water production, chemical consumption and energy use for the metal production, processing and coating industries. By combination and integration of existing but highly innovative technologies, valuable resources such as metals and process fluids will furthermore be recovered, thus reducing raw material consumption, closing process chain loops and bringing existing processes in the metallurgical industry a large step closer to sustainability.
The proposed approach is an integrated system comprising between one and two cutting edge membrane technologies, namely Diffusion Dialysis (DD) and Membrane Distillation (MD), which is highly suitable for adaptation to the manifold metal processing branches using low grade waste heat and concentration gradients to provide energy efficient waste water treatment and liquid stream recovery. The modular and flexible system design will offer high applicability to the specific requirements of an industry consisting of companies with a wide variety of production capacities and sizes. Ferrous metal processing industry is typically of large size while electroplating, anodizing, coating (zinc, copper, silver etc.) in surface treatment of metal industry (STM) is mostly done by medium or small scale SMEs. Foundry industry is represented in different magnitudes between large industrial factories and small SMEs.
The technological approach was adapted to fit the requirements of 4 different pilot demonstration show-cases in representative industrial applications of the metallurgical industry in order to evaluate the accomplishment of the ReWaCEM goals. In the ReWaCEM Project four different applications for DD and MD were be demonstrated in metal plating, galvanizing and printed circuit board industry, namely:
Demo A: Recovery of hydrochloric acid and iron in the pickling process (intermediate step before hot-dip galvanizing) in Italy;
Demo B: recovery of sulphuric acid and copper in the electroplating process in Spain;
Demo C: recovery of nitric and hydrofluoric mix acid from stainless steel pickling process (intermediate step in stainless steel wire rod production) in Germany and
Demo D: recovery of wastewater from gold and palladium bathes in Austria
The proposed approach is an integrated system comprising between one and two cutting edge membrane technologies, namely Diffusion Dialysis (DD) and Membrane Distillation (MD), which is highly suitable for adaptation to the manifold metal processing branches using low grade waste heat and concentration gradients to provide energy efficient waste water treatment and liquid stream recovery. The modular and flexible system design will offer high applicability to the specific requirements of an industry consisting of companies with a wide variety of production capacities and sizes. Ferrous metal processing industry is typically of large size while electroplating, anodizing, coating (zinc, copper, silver etc.) in surface treatment of metal industry (STM) is mostly done by medium or small scale SMEs. Foundry industry is represented in different magnitudes between large industrial factories and small SMEs.
The technological approach was adapted to fit the requirements of 4 different pilot demonstration show-cases in representative industrial applications of the metallurgical industry in order to evaluate the accomplishment of the ReWaCEM goals. In the ReWaCEM Project four different applications for DD and MD were be demonstrated in metal plating, galvanizing and printed circuit board industry, namely:
Demo A: Recovery of hydrochloric acid and iron in the pickling process (intermediate step before hot-dip galvanizing) in Italy;
Demo B: recovery of sulphuric acid and copper in the electroplating process in Spain;
Demo C: recovery of nitric and hydrofluoric mix acid from stainless steel pickling process (intermediate step in stainless steel wire rod production) in Germany and
Demo D: recovery of wastewater from gold and palladium bathes in Austria
The objective of WP1 was mainly on the detection and specification of risks associated with the construction, installation and operation of the demonstration systems and lab tests as well as the compilation of standards and individual procedures for risk management and risk mitigation.
The Objective of WP 2 was dedicated to the collection of comprehensive process data to prepare the development and integration of the 4 demonstration plants. Therefore, a deep analysis of existing plant layouts and process schematics as well as an analysis of process stream compositions and energy streams was conducted within an extensive data mining phase.
The main objective of WP3 was the design of the overall acid and metals recovery process for the 4 demonstrators. Comprehensive simulation decks for mass and energy balances were created in order to design the hydraulic set up. In WP4, the adaption of the respective core technology components (MD and DD) was carried out according the particular requirements.
WP5 is dedicated to the design and construction of demo systems, which includes the CAD based detailed mechanical and hydraulic engineering, the development of control and monitoring were elaborated. Components were selected and purchased, construction drawings of the plants and their components were elaborated. The pre-commissioning of the full plant functionality was performed before the plants were transferred to the industrial sites.
In WP 6, the installation and commissioning of the demonstrator systems at the respective operation site was carried out.
The operation and monitoring of the installed demonstrator systems is the objective in WP 7. All demonstration plants were excessively tested throughout the year 2019.
Process analysis and evaluation of the results obtained during the demonstration period is the objective in WP 8. The monitored data from the plants is transferred via mobile 4G router and stored on a cloud-drive to be accessed by the relevant consortium partners.
In WP 9, the hydraulic design of the demonstrators was re-adapted and optimizedto reach the proposed specifications.
WP10 "Life Cycle Assessment and Water footprint" aims at quantifying environmental impacts and water consumption and the respective reduction potentials of the newly developed technology.
In WP11 “ReWaCEM Dissemination activities” the project web site and the logo were created. Two Leaflets have been generated and distributed to relevant steakholders.
A web-video has been performed and can be found on the ReWaCEM website and in several channels of EuroNews. Different project events as industry workshops were organized.
The objective of WP 12 is twofold: Initially the target market was studied and evaluated providing input to the consortium for adapting the product to the needs of the industry - Based on the outcomes of the market study and the results of the project a roadmap for the market introduction of the new systems was elaborated. To summarize the overall achievements it can be stated that acid recovery can effectively be done by DD, between 70-90% of the free acid can be recovered, independently from the type of the tested acids. Metal rejection was between 50-93% depending on the metal type and show-case. Acids were concentrated by factor 1.2-1.8 if no volatile compounds are present in the feed, the distillate quality was very high and distillate was reused as draw DD solution or for cleaning. Pre-treatment (particles, oils and tensides) is crucial for a successful application of such membrane processes, the availability of waste heat is crucial to achieve economic and ecologic sustainability for the thermally driven MD. Improvements in all studied ecologic impact categories were achieved for all show-cases, however, the significance of the improvements depend on the show-case. In two cases the waste water stream could be eliminated completely.
The Objective of WP 2 was dedicated to the collection of comprehensive process data to prepare the development and integration of the 4 demonstration plants. Therefore, a deep analysis of existing plant layouts and process schematics as well as an analysis of process stream compositions and energy streams was conducted within an extensive data mining phase.
The main objective of WP3 was the design of the overall acid and metals recovery process for the 4 demonstrators. Comprehensive simulation decks for mass and energy balances were created in order to design the hydraulic set up. In WP4, the adaption of the respective core technology components (MD and DD) was carried out according the particular requirements.
WP5 is dedicated to the design and construction of demo systems, which includes the CAD based detailed mechanical and hydraulic engineering, the development of control and monitoring were elaborated. Components were selected and purchased, construction drawings of the plants and their components were elaborated. The pre-commissioning of the full plant functionality was performed before the plants were transferred to the industrial sites.
In WP 6, the installation and commissioning of the demonstrator systems at the respective operation site was carried out.
The operation and monitoring of the installed demonstrator systems is the objective in WP 7. All demonstration plants were excessively tested throughout the year 2019.
Process analysis and evaluation of the results obtained during the demonstration period is the objective in WP 8. The monitored data from the plants is transferred via mobile 4G router and stored on a cloud-drive to be accessed by the relevant consortium partners.
In WP 9, the hydraulic design of the demonstrators was re-adapted and optimizedto reach the proposed specifications.
WP10 "Life Cycle Assessment and Water footprint" aims at quantifying environmental impacts and water consumption and the respective reduction potentials of the newly developed technology.
In WP11 “ReWaCEM Dissemination activities” the project web site and the logo were created. Two Leaflets have been generated and distributed to relevant steakholders.
A web-video has been performed and can be found on the ReWaCEM website and in several channels of EuroNews. Different project events as industry workshops were organized.
The objective of WP 12 is twofold: Initially the target market was studied and evaluated providing input to the consortium for adapting the product to the needs of the industry - Based on the outcomes of the market study and the results of the project a roadmap for the market introduction of the new systems was elaborated. To summarize the overall achievements it can be stated that acid recovery can effectively be done by DD, between 70-90% of the free acid can be recovered, independently from the type of the tested acids. Metal rejection was between 50-93% depending on the metal type and show-case. Acids were concentrated by factor 1.2-1.8 if no volatile compounds are present in the feed, the distillate quality was very high and distillate was reused as draw DD solution or for cleaning. Pre-treatment (particles, oils and tensides) is crucial for a successful application of such membrane processes, the availability of waste heat is crucial to achieve economic and ecologic sustainability for the thermally driven MD. Improvements in all studied ecologic impact categories were achieved for all show-cases, however, the significance of the improvements depend on the show-case. In two cases the waste water stream could be eliminated completely.
The lab experiments in conjunction with the extrapolations done by simulation studies clearly indicated that the suggested combination of DD and MD is be able to achieve the technical goals set in the proposal. This was the first time that this combination is deployed in plating industry and therefore beyond the current state of the art.
This assumption can be stated for the demonstration units and must be extrapolated for the company and the entire branch in order to estimate the overall impact of the new technology since now real measurement data exists. It must be also mentioned that the expected impact of 15% energy savings by the new DD-MD technology compared to state of the art technologies depends on the availability of waste heat. In some cases also a sole operation of MD or DD is the most promising approach. The correlating technologies for the different applications investigated in the ReWaCEM project was assessed and compared in WP12 in order to describe the advantages of DD and MD for market uptake. The economic validation was carried out and where the roadmap for market introduction was created.
This assumption can be stated for the demonstration units and must be extrapolated for the company and the entire branch in order to estimate the overall impact of the new technology since now real measurement data exists. It must be also mentioned that the expected impact of 15% energy savings by the new DD-MD technology compared to state of the art technologies depends on the availability of waste heat. In some cases also a sole operation of MD or DD is the most promising approach. The correlating technologies for the different applications investigated in the ReWaCEM project was assessed and compared in WP12 in order to describe the advantages of DD and MD for market uptake. The economic validation was carried out and where the roadmap for market introduction was created.