Project description
The treatment of toxic wastewater made easy
The collection and treatment of wastewater is improving all over Europe. The latest figures show that 95 % of wastewater in the EU is collected and 88 % is biologically treated. While the trend is positive, there is still room for improvement – through innovation and new investments in environmental infrastructure in all EU Member States. With this in mind, the EU-funded NMRT project will bring to market a newly developed technology that uses electromagnetic resonance to treat toxic wastewater. It has been successfully tested in different kinds of wastewater (winery, landfill, tannery and textile industries). According to the project, this technology is cheaper and easier to install and maintain compared to current best available technologies.
Objective
The NMRT project aims at rolling to market a disruptive technology that uses electromagnetic resonance to treat wastewater, producing inert flocculates as a biproduct. The current TRL 6 prototype has been successfully tested in different kinds of wastewater (winery, landfill, leachate, tannery and textile industries), with two valid independent laboratory analyses to confirm it. Our fist paid pilot is running since June 2018 with great results.
NMRT has competitive installation costs (CAPEX - for both new wastewater treatment plants and as a secondary and tertiary system retrofitted in existing facilities) and has low maintenance and energy costs (OPEX), with no need for chemicals (compared to current best available technologies, such as reverse osmosis).
Difficulties in reaching full compliance with EU water directives such as the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive include high investment needs, mobilisation of the necessary funding, long and complex procedures for creating new infrastructure and for improving existing ones. NMRT is an innovative electromagnetic resonance treatment that specifically targets the pollutants that need to be eliminated before water can be reused for irrigation or groundwater discharge. Our project aligns completely with wastewater challenges identified by EU directives and legislation and H2020 objectives.
We aim at demonstrating NMRT at a large-scale plant, and will make use of the Phase 1 project to prepare a detailed feasibility study to confirm the viability of our solution and gather potential client feedback and willingness-to-buy.
FUNCIONAL is a European start-up created in 2016 specifically to bring NMRT technology to the market, and our consulting services and small-scale treatment plants have generated a turnover of 100.000€ in 2017. Our CEO has over 15 years of entrepreneurship experience, our Head of RDI is a waster water expert with 25 years of experience and our Head of Sales has 30 years of commercialization expertise.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processeswastewater treatment processes
- engineering and technologycivil engineeringwater engineeringirrigation
- engineering and technologychemical engineeringseparation technologiesdesalinationreverse osmosis
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringtextiles
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
4719 005 BRAGA
Portugal
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.