GAIKER is working on the development of new materials and processes for water treatment

The SMYRNA project seeks to unite synergies and technological capabilities to maintain the competitiveness of the Basque industry in the field of water treatment.

 

GAIKER Technology Center, member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance, BRTA, participates in the project “New materials and processes in physicochemical water treatment, SMYRNA”.

 

The aim of this project is to unite synergies and complementary technological capabilities among the six entities participating in the proposal for the development of new advanced materials and processes in the field of water treatment. The aim is to relaunch the Basque industry through the development of new materials and processes in physicochemical treatment technologies.

 

The new regulations on water treatment promote the reuse and efficiency in the use of water in industrial processes. This will force, in the coming years, the adaptation of these processes in terms of water saving through reuse and resource recovery of critical materials, biomaterials derived from sewage sludge and energy generated from biogas. There is a need to move from a concept of treatment for discharge to a concept of treatment for reuse, which leads to the need to address the following challenges:

• Develop new materials to improve the efficiency of current water purification processes.
• To achieve the elimination of emerging compounds present in water that may pose risks to the environment or to health.
• To guarantee the sanitary quality of treated water.
• To improve the energy efficiency of the processes while facilitating the recovery of value-added compounds in liquid streams.

Facing these challenges means approaching them with a vision of sustainability, using technologies that reduce the use of chemical compounds and energy.
The SMYRNA project seeks to respond to these challenges and for this purpose it proposes different strategic lines such as the development of materials for their incorporation in water treatment systems and the development of new water treatment schemes for the elimination of compounds of emerging concern (CEC), pathogens and for the recovery of materials.

 

Funded by the Basque Government within the Elkartek collaborative research grant program, the SMYRNA project will conclude at the end of this year. GAIKER, as an expert in advanced physicochemical treatment systems and water reuse technologies, will be in charge, on the one hand, of developing new materials for filtration and water treatment by means of additive manufacturing and membrane modification and of carrying out the testing and validation of these developed materials. On the other hand, it will evaluate different treatments of emerging contaminants by means of advanced oxidation, adsorption and membrane separation processes. Also, it will carry out different water disinfection systems and evaluation of their toxicity. And, finally, it will collaborate in the simulation and modeling of the different innovative water treatment processes evaluated.