Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PORTABLECRAC (PORTABLE SOLUTION FOR THE ELECTROCHEMICAL REGENERATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON)
Reporting period: 2019-04-01 to 2021-02-28
PORTABLECRAC brings a sustainable and long term solution creating a direct and indirect employment in the “service-sector” from EU. The overall concept of PORTABLECRAC is shown in Figure 1. Furthermore, PORTABLECRAC KEY VALUE PROPOSITION is to provide a solution to water treatment with 86% reduction in cost per kg/AC and 4 times reduction in CO2 emissions. Business model will be assessed and validated during the scope of the project, based on traditional key drivers for industry market penetration as cost reduction and legislation framework. First PORTABLECRAC devices will be produced and optimized by ENV, with support of RTDPs included in the proposal that can later on exploit the new foreground or either license it to a third party that will take the role of service provider. In a preferred scenario the third party will be a joint venture promoted/integrated by PORTABLECRAC partners. Service provider will offer this regeneration technology to industrial clients with AC regeneration requirements from water treatment. PORTABLECRAC will offer savings from first year, 64% of OPEX for producer (ENV) and 12 times of OPEX for service provider (joint venture) providing cash for CAPEX.
PORTABLECRAC aims to be an alternative to the most preferred regeneration technology for AC by offering innovative and integral solutions based on electrochemical technology.
PORTABLECRAC aims to be an alternative to the most preferred regeneration technology for AC by offering innovative and integral solutions based on electrochemical technology.
At the end of the project, 4 prototypes were built and validated at 100 kg scale at least. On e of them, the PORTABLECRAC-MT, has reached the ton scale. THese prototypes have been validated at EMI, ENV & AGRI facilities. Furthermore, witht he batch prototype (100kg) AGRI performed 3 DEMOs with different types of AC. All of the prototypes have proven the regeneration capacity, reaching the target of 80%. However, this capacity depends on the type of AC (i.e. the industry from which the AC is obtained) and the conditions of the experiments.
Environmentally, the project presents benefits in respect to current practices in both scenarios, large (-45%) and small filters (-92%) for weighed results of all impact categories except for non-cancer human toxicity and ecotoxicity. Toxicity impacts results are not accurate due to lack of reliable data concerning emissions during regeneration. Sensitivity analysis show that, after applying gas treatment to neutralize toxic acid emissions, these categories would present lower impacts than current scenario.
The key parameters found from the hotspot analysis in the environmental performance of the prototypes are the ratio electrolyte volume/AC quantity, molarity and quantity of additional virgin AC after every regeneration incorporated. Small CC and Vertical present lower ratios electrolyte/AC regenerated and the benefits of recycling the electrolyte have been estimated as >25%.
In further designs, if the ratio electrolyte volume/AC regenerated is decreased, even by decreasing electrolyte volume or by increasing the AC quantity per cycle and minimizing the molarity of the electrolyte, the environmental performance will be improved significantly.
The main conclusions regarding the exploitation are:
• A total of 8 exploitable results have been identified, developed by all the partners from the consortium. From this list, at least 3 of the results have been or will be subject to patent filling (1 of UA, 1 of ENV and 1 of UVIGO) in the short term.
• Individual exploitation strategies are outlined detailing the type of IP protection proposed and the next steps required for a commercial acceptance.
• Two Business Model have been drafted with a focus on joint exploitation of the technology either as a product or as a service. The preferred one is expected to be materialized within the following 12 months after project end with the major traction provided by the ENV-EMIVASA binomial cooperation.
• Mitigation actions for 8 transversal barriers to the effective transfer of R&D results have been discussed. From this assessment it can be stated that most barriers have been already effectively overcome.
• Key stakeholders have been identified and communication channels described.
• Branding preferences for at least 2 of the prototypes are described.
Environmentally, the project presents benefits in respect to current practices in both scenarios, large (-45%) and small filters (-92%) for weighed results of all impact categories except for non-cancer human toxicity and ecotoxicity. Toxicity impacts results are not accurate due to lack of reliable data concerning emissions during regeneration. Sensitivity analysis show that, after applying gas treatment to neutralize toxic acid emissions, these categories would present lower impacts than current scenario.
The key parameters found from the hotspot analysis in the environmental performance of the prototypes are the ratio electrolyte volume/AC quantity, molarity and quantity of additional virgin AC after every regeneration incorporated. Small CC and Vertical present lower ratios electrolyte/AC regenerated and the benefits of recycling the electrolyte have been estimated as >25%.
In further designs, if the ratio electrolyte volume/AC regenerated is decreased, even by decreasing electrolyte volume or by increasing the AC quantity per cycle and minimizing the molarity of the electrolyte, the environmental performance will be improved significantly.
The main conclusions regarding the exploitation are:
• A total of 8 exploitable results have been identified, developed by all the partners from the consortium. From this list, at least 3 of the results have been or will be subject to patent filling (1 of UA, 1 of ENV and 1 of UVIGO) in the short term.
• Individual exploitation strategies are outlined detailing the type of IP protection proposed and the next steps required for a commercial acceptance.
• Two Business Model have been drafted with a focus on joint exploitation of the technology either as a product or as a service. The preferred one is expected to be materialized within the following 12 months after project end with the major traction provided by the ENV-EMIVASA binomial cooperation.
• Mitigation actions for 8 transversal barriers to the effective transfer of R&D results have been discussed. From this assessment it can be stated that most barriers have been already effectively overcome.
• Key stakeholders have been identified and communication channels described.
• Branding preferences for at least 2 of the prototypes are described.
Considering the high cost of acquiring virgin AC together with the negative impact over environment in discarding it, the viability of AC use at industrial level depends largely on regeneration and reuse of exhausted AC. Indeed, regeneration is becoming a growing concern for carbon industries and constitutes a sustainable solution in line with EU policies. PORTABLECRAC offers electrochemical technology as a promising alternative to all of the regeneration methods previously exposed and especially to exhausted AC disposal and thermal regeneration. In electrochemistry, the application of electric potential differential over exhausted AC favors the adsorbed molecules desorption allowing the regeneration of the material. Essentially, this process has similar or higher regeneration efficiency than thermal regeneration. bESIDES, it does not need chemical reagents that may produce secondary pollutants. Moreover, electrochemical regeneration allows a more selective process in which the proper setting of the applied current (or electrode potential) and other operational variables (such as electrolysis time, electrode composition, etc.) can allow for the recovery (for added value substances), modification of organic pollutants into less hazardous compounds, or even complete mineralization. Hence, PORTABLECRAC proposes a more sustainable solution to regenerate AC under the environmental and cost saving point of view in comparison with existing methods.
The resuñts of the LCA & LCCA reveal that:
• PORTABLE MT is superior to all other prototypes in terms of cost-efficiency and has great potential for fast market uptake either as a product or as a service.
• All other prototypes have as a major drawback the low degree of automatization so it must be taken into account that some margin still exists in the optimization of workers’ cost.
• SMALL CC is the most promising technology from the point of view of sustainability, despite the fact that all other prototypes also enable remarkable savings in terms of climate change.
• BATCH prototype can be a preferred option for a wide variety of industries with small to medium AC filters. Its main selling point is the low investment required.
Finally, after assessing different industrial sectors that are candidates to become early adopters of the electrochemical regeneration it is concluded that Drinking Water Treatment Plants are the best fit for the technology, matching well in price expectations and size with the specifications of PORTABLE MT.
For the food and chemical industry, the application of PORTABLE MT is not straightforward and other prototypes can be considered as long as the degree of automatization is improved
The resuñts of the LCA & LCCA reveal that:
• PORTABLE MT is superior to all other prototypes in terms of cost-efficiency and has great potential for fast market uptake either as a product or as a service.
• All other prototypes have as a major drawback the low degree of automatization so it must be taken into account that some margin still exists in the optimization of workers’ cost.
• SMALL CC is the most promising technology from the point of view of sustainability, despite the fact that all other prototypes also enable remarkable savings in terms of climate change.
• BATCH prototype can be a preferred option for a wide variety of industries with small to medium AC filters. Its main selling point is the low investment required.
Finally, after assessing different industrial sectors that are candidates to become early adopters of the electrochemical regeneration it is concluded that Drinking Water Treatment Plants are the best fit for the technology, matching well in price expectations and size with the specifications of PORTABLE MT.
For the food and chemical industry, the application of PORTABLE MT is not straightforward and other prototypes can be considered as long as the degree of automatization is improved