Periodic Reporting for period 1 - iWAYS (Innovative WAter recoverY Solutions through recycling of heat, materials and water across multiple sectors)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-12-01 bis 2022-05-31
iWAYS (Innovative WAter recoverY Solutions through recycling of heat, materials and water across multiple sectors) is an initiative promoted by 19 partners from 9 EU countries, last 4 years and will apply its solutions and designs in 3 industrial cases: Italy (ceramic), Spain (steel) and Sweden (chemical).
iWAYS received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement nº 958274 and officially started in December 2020. To ensure the greatest impact, the project will be promoted, and its results disseminated to the right stakeholders. This is granted by project website https://www.iways.eu/ and social media channels (linkedin, twitter, etc..).
In the framework of the iWAYS project, a synergy between energy/water reclamation and exploitation is addressed by the development and installation of a wide array of technologies in three different industrial sectors: ceramic tile manufacturing, aluminium fluoride production and steel tubes manufacturer. The principal challenge of iWAYS will be to recover water and energy from complex industrial exhausts via the development of new technologies and methodology. iWAYS systems will then treat the condensate to meet the water quality requirements of each industrial process, while the recovered heat will be used to reduce primary energy consumption. iWAYS will recover additional materials from flue gas such as valuable acids or particulates, improving the production’s raw material efficiency and reducing detrimental emissions to the environment. Alternative fresh water sources such as surface run-off are also considered to meet sustainable water supply goals.
The iWAYS system is bespoke and tailored for each industrial case and is comprised of three main technologies: exhaust and material condensation, water treatment and decision support system based on Realtime monitoring system. The recovery and reutilization of substantial amount of heat through steam condensation is achieved by means of a Heat Pipe Condensing Economizer (HPCE) while the water treatment systems include well established innovative technologies based on the specific requirements of the end users.
Thus, iWAYS aims at near-zero discharge plant using closed-loop systems in combination with recovery of energy and/or substances (resources) through the development of integrated water-smart strategies for industrial processes.
iWAYS received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement nº 958274 and officially started in December 2020. To ensure the greatest impact, the project will be promoted, and its results disseminated to the right stakeholders. This is granted by project website https://www.iways.eu/ and social media channels (linkedin, twitter, etc..).
In the framework of the iWAYS project, a synergy between energy/water reclamation and exploitation is addressed by the development and installation of a wide array of technologies in three different industrial sectors: ceramic tile manufacturing, aluminium fluoride production and steel tubes manufacturer. The principal challenge of iWAYS will be to recover water and energy from complex industrial exhausts via the development of new technologies and methodology. iWAYS systems will then treat the condensate to meet the water quality requirements of each industrial process, while the recovered heat will be used to reduce primary energy consumption. iWAYS will recover additional materials from flue gas such as valuable acids or particulates, improving the production’s raw material efficiency and reducing detrimental emissions to the environment. Alternative fresh water sources such as surface run-off are also considered to meet sustainable water supply goals.
The iWAYS system is bespoke and tailored for each industrial case and is comprised of three main technologies: exhaust and material condensation, water treatment and decision support system based on Realtime monitoring system. The recovery and reutilization of substantial amount of heat through steam condensation is achieved by means of a Heat Pipe Condensing Economizer (HPCE) while the water treatment systems include well established innovative technologies based on the specific requirements of the end users.
Thus, iWAYS aims at near-zero discharge plant using closed-loop systems in combination with recovery of energy and/or substances (resources) through the development of integrated water-smart strategies for industrial processes.
The first 18 months of iWAYS project have been a crucial period in the project.
WP2 has been focused in launching the activities and collecting information about water recovering and flue gases processes to ensure the consistency of the project technical activities.
In addition to this, experimental campaigns were carried out in the three demo cases despite the COVID-19 pandemic that caused delays by preventing in person meetings and activities. These campaigns defined the exhaust composition of the waste heat sources as well as the water chemical compositions of the streams (condensate from the HPHE and other possible water streams).
WP2 also focused on laying down the foundation of the project that will be applied in all the following WPs such as technological characterisation, local regulation, business plan, end user requirements ect.
In WP3, the activities were mainly focused on the design and the implementation of the monitoring and control systems for the iWAYS technologies in the three use cases. A customised platform for each use case is designed to detect the representative performance data and indicators of each system; the platforms are under finalization.
WP4 was devoted to developing efficient and sustainable designs of water treatment systems for treating the recovered streams in the three industrial processes. Based on the results of WP2 in terms of end users’ requirements and chemical compositions of the water streams, the designs of the three water treatment systems were developed. A pilot test rig was manufactured and tested in the chemical process to obtain important data to assess the performance of the full scale system that will be implemented at the same facility. The water treatment systems are fully customized based on the specific characteristics of the industrial processes. In the ceramic industry, the water treatment system will be based on ultra and nano filtration; the chemical process requires a sand filter and a softener unit to produce a water stream with acceptable chemical composition for recycling . In the steel industry, the photocatalytic nanofiltration reactor, membrane distillation and dissolved air floatation will be used.
WP5 activities were committed to the design and manufacture of Heat Pipe-based Condensing Economiser (HPCE) for each demonstration case. The HPCE is responsible for the recovery of heat to be exploited in a heat sink and for the recovery of water to be treated. The design activities are now in the approval phase while the detailed drawings will be issued once the test at LEI are conducted on a scaled version of the HPCE. Investigation on the suitable materials and coatings that are able to withstand challenging conditions (exhaust gases with harsh chemical compositions) were carried out to with a particular interest in high resistance alloy for acid exhaust.
WP6 aimed at defining a common process for the integration of the technologies.
The work carried out by the current ongoing tasks under this work package has covered the activities related to the methodology for the common integration process, planning and key performance indicators development.
Regarding the dissemination activities (WP9), a Communication and Dissemination Master Plan has been defined and many contents have been produced to disseminate the iWAYS project. Website, social network, journalistic articles, project video, brochures, infographics and roll ups, events…
WP2 has been focused in launching the activities and collecting information about water recovering and flue gases processes to ensure the consistency of the project technical activities.
In addition to this, experimental campaigns were carried out in the three demo cases despite the COVID-19 pandemic that caused delays by preventing in person meetings and activities. These campaigns defined the exhaust composition of the waste heat sources as well as the water chemical compositions of the streams (condensate from the HPHE and other possible water streams).
WP2 also focused on laying down the foundation of the project that will be applied in all the following WPs such as technological characterisation, local regulation, business plan, end user requirements ect.
In WP3, the activities were mainly focused on the design and the implementation of the monitoring and control systems for the iWAYS technologies in the three use cases. A customised platform for each use case is designed to detect the representative performance data and indicators of each system; the platforms are under finalization.
WP4 was devoted to developing efficient and sustainable designs of water treatment systems for treating the recovered streams in the three industrial processes. Based on the results of WP2 in terms of end users’ requirements and chemical compositions of the water streams, the designs of the three water treatment systems were developed. A pilot test rig was manufactured and tested in the chemical process to obtain important data to assess the performance of the full scale system that will be implemented at the same facility. The water treatment systems are fully customized based on the specific characteristics of the industrial processes. In the ceramic industry, the water treatment system will be based on ultra and nano filtration; the chemical process requires a sand filter and a softener unit to produce a water stream with acceptable chemical composition for recycling . In the steel industry, the photocatalytic nanofiltration reactor, membrane distillation and dissolved air floatation will be used.
WP5 activities were committed to the design and manufacture of Heat Pipe-based Condensing Economiser (HPCE) for each demonstration case. The HPCE is responsible for the recovery of heat to be exploited in a heat sink and for the recovery of water to be treated. The design activities are now in the approval phase while the detailed drawings will be issued once the test at LEI are conducted on a scaled version of the HPCE. Investigation on the suitable materials and coatings that are able to withstand challenging conditions (exhaust gases with harsh chemical compositions) were carried out to with a particular interest in high resistance alloy for acid exhaust.
WP6 aimed at defining a common process for the integration of the technologies.
The work carried out by the current ongoing tasks under this work package has covered the activities related to the methodology for the common integration process, planning and key performance indicators development.
Regarding the dissemination activities (WP9), a Communication and Dissemination Master Plan has been defined and many contents have been produced to disseminate the iWAYS project. Website, social network, journalistic articles, project video, brochures, infographics and roll ups, events…
In iWAYS there is an incredible potential for savings energy and water across multiple industrial sectors. Indeed, the iWAYS solution will recover energy from challenging exhaust streams where it is today not viable and economical. The identified iWAYS waste source are exhaust gases which contain humidity and pollutants; thus, heated water and other pollutants will be recovered to be reused within the industrial process.
The estimations of the iWAYS project are to save, for the ceramic company, 10 000 t per year of water and approximately 6 GWh of thermal energy to be reused in the process. For the chemical industry, the estimation is to recover approximately 4 000 litre per hour of water and to save up to 5 GWh of thermal energy. Finally, in the steel industry, 450 litre per hour saved of water and 0.7 GWh per year of thermal energy saving. As it can be noticed, these are very promising figures that will drive a huge reduction of the environmental impact of the industrial processes. The iWAYS solution could be replicated across the different facilities of the Partners involved.
There is also a positive political framework to introduce to the market the iWAYS solution as energy intensive industries (EII) will be asked to be carbon neutral by 2050. If the results obtained in the three demo cases of iWAYS is to be extrapolated to similar industrial plants existing in Europe, an extremely significant impact in Europe could be expected with consequent CO2 emissions and water savings. The latter would impact directly on the welfare of the European citizen.
The estimations of the iWAYS project are to save, for the ceramic company, 10 000 t per year of water and approximately 6 GWh of thermal energy to be reused in the process. For the chemical industry, the estimation is to recover approximately 4 000 litre per hour of water and to save up to 5 GWh of thermal energy. Finally, in the steel industry, 450 litre per hour saved of water and 0.7 GWh per year of thermal energy saving. As it can be noticed, these are very promising figures that will drive a huge reduction of the environmental impact of the industrial processes. The iWAYS solution could be replicated across the different facilities of the Partners involved.
There is also a positive political framework to introduce to the market the iWAYS solution as energy intensive industries (EII) will be asked to be carbon neutral by 2050. If the results obtained in the three demo cases of iWAYS is to be extrapolated to similar industrial plants existing in Europe, an extremely significant impact in Europe could be expected with consequent CO2 emissions and water savings. The latter would impact directly on the welfare of the European citizen.