Project description
Making safe, affordable and energy-efficient drinking water accessible to all
Access to safe drinking water remains a global challenge as traditional purification methods prove insufficient and energy-intensive. In this context, the EU-funded REvivED project aims to establish electrodialysis (ED) as the new gold standard, providing a source of safe, affordable and energy-efficient drinking water. By harnessing the power of ED, it promises to use less than half the energy required by state-of-the-art reverse osmosis (RO) plants. With a focus on four key applications, including brackish water desalination and tap-water softening, the project will showcase a versatile technology platform. By integrating with existing RO systems and strategically locating pilot projects in critical areas worldwide, REvivED will tackle the global water crisis head-on.
Objective
The REvivED water project will establish electrodialysis (ED) as the new standard providing a source of safe, affordable, and cost-competitive drinking water, using less than half the energy required by state-of-the-art Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants.
The innovations of the project constitute a technology platform with a very wide field of potential applications. All components and systems have reached at least TRL4 and will be further developed reaching at least TRL7. The main focus of the project will be on the following applications:
1. A simplified ED system that can be used for brackish water desalination (8 pilots in developing countries) or for tap-water softening (2 pilots in Germany and the Netherlands).
2. A multistage ED system for industrial-scale seawater desalination, which will be demonstrated to reach energy consumption as low as 1.5 kWh/m3 (1 pilot in the Netherlands)
3. Combinations of the multistage ED system with the latest salinity gradient power systems (Reverse ElectroDialysis - RED), which can further reduce energy consumption for seawater desalination to the region of 1 kWh/m3 (1 pilot in the Netherlands)
4. The versatile nature of the developed innovations will be demonstrated by testing their combinations with Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems (1 pilot in Spain). This will allow initial market introduction, without the need to replace the extensive RO infrastructure.
The pilot systems in developing countries will be located in critical areas where the project partner PHAESUN has local offices in Africa (Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia), Asia (Dubai, and India) and Latin America (Panama).
The consortium brings together leading partners covering the whole value chain and ensuring exploitation of the results. It is clearly industry driven, and it gives European industry the chance to take the lead of the ED revival and face the competition from the US that is also actively pursuing this important growth market.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processesdrinking water treatment processes
- engineering and technologychemical engineeringseparation technologiesdesalinationelectrodialysis
- engineering and technologychemical engineeringseparation technologiesdesalinationreverse osmosis
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energywind power
- engineering and technologychemical engineeringseparation technologiesdistillation
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
5047 TK Tilburg
Netherlands