Project Updates
With innovatION(s) to the east frisian island
In the innovatION joint project, partners from industry and research are working together to develop a desalination process for selective retention of monovalent ions such as sodium, chloride and nitrate. The electrochemical desalination process of capacitive deionization is modified by the use of novel membranes so that smaller ions can be selectively retained and thus remineralization of the product water with calcium and magnesium is no longer necessary for further use, e.g. as drinking water. The fact that this makes sense not only financially but also ecologically is demonstrated by the Chair of Business Administration, esp. Sustainability Management and Environmental Accounting of the Technische Universität Dresden.
So far, various membranes and ion exchange resins have been produced by FUMATECH BWT GmbH and the Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V. and tested in the laboratory test plant, which was built by DEUKUM GmbH and elkoplan staiger GmbH. Now, in spring 2023, a pilot plant is to go into operation on Langeoog to selectively remove sodium and chloride from the brackish water here. The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg is testing the extent to which the partially desalinated water can be used for artificial groundwater recharge. The pilot plant will then move to Nienburg to selectively remove nitrate from the groundwater.
In addition to the short- and long-term practical desalination and infiltration tests, these tests will also be modeled by simulations. Among other things, these models will be used to investigate the influence of various operating and environmental parameters on desalination and infiltration performance. To evaluate the scaling and fouling of the membranes and its influence on the desalination performance, the first long-term tests were carried out in August.
Now, in October, the widely distributed project partners were able to meet live in Dresden for the first time. Here, all partners were able to experience the laboratory test plant at the Chair of Process Engineering in Hydrosystems live in operation and share their experiences with the innovative materials and methods.
