IntelWATT aims to develop innovative, cost efficient, smart separation technologies applied in energy and water intensive industries. The goal of the project is to demonstrate 3 TRL7 case studies that will achieve water preservation along with energy production and material recovery. The proposed solutions will also target at zero liquid discharge while implementing maximum water reuse. Tailor made sensors and automated decision making mechanisms will optimize the process conditions in real time. The case studies will be implemented in crucial EU and global industrial applications such as electricity production, mining and metal plating. -Case study 1:Demonstration prototype for CTBD treatment. The development of efficient, cost effective, smart solutions for water management in a thermoelectric power plant, aiming at minimization of the cooling tower blow down (>99% recovery) trough developing a pilot unit of 100 m3/day treatment capacity installed in the premise of PPC’s unit V (natural gas combined circle facility, Megalopolis, Greece) based on a closed loop, near zero liquid discharge approach. -Case study 2: Demonstration of a symbiotic concept between industries: sustainable production of energy and water. In this context, an integrated pilot unit (100 m3/day) comprised by Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) and solar powered membrane distillation (MD) systems. -Case study 3: The application of a novel, hybrid high recovery RO (HRRO) / Ion exchange (IX) resin prototype will demonstrate the recovery of valuable electrolytes and fresh water preservation in a plastic electroplating facility. The process is aiming towards recovering up to 95 % of Chromium and Copper and 50% of Nickel, while preserving 65% of fresh water. Implement smart sensor technology for online monitoring, real time process adaptation and deep learning, with customizable intelligent industrial process software module based on an agnostic protocol connectivity cloud infrastructure.

Although the European freshwater system is monitored closely by different European frameworks, it has been demonstrated that organic chemical pollutants are still putting half of it at risk. The InnovEOX R&D training network was built to address and provide a solution for this considerable challenge: to boost innovative electrochemical wastewater treatment techniques to effectively degrade highly hazardous organic micro-pollutants, reducing environmental pollution and improving the European quality of life and health. By setting up a training frame to educate the next generation of highly-qualified ESRs in one of the most promising fields in micro-pollutant degradation, this will enable to generate important innovations, necessary to create a new level of EU excellence and reinforce EU R&D capacity in the field. The overall InnovEOX aim is to train 15 creative, entrepreneurial & innovative ESRs with high employability and career perspectives, capable of promoting new technologies in the industry and academic sector. The main InnovEOX R&D objectives are: 1) the exploration of alternative electrochemical oxidation pathways via generation of different oxidative radicals, 2) the development of combined photocatalytic/electrochemical oxidation techniques, 3) the development of novel analytical approaches for the separation and identification of these micro-pollutants and their degradation products, and 4) an assessment of the effects of the developed treatments on the aquatic toxicity, biological wastewater treatment and the environment as a whole via a life cycle assessment. These objectives combined will ensure a high-quality training with a high-societal impact for the reliable, economic and complete removal of priority pollutants from wastewater. Pushed by an interdisciplinary & intersectoral consortium of 10 leading beneficiaries and 7 partner organisations, the proposal will offer innovative training based on an optimal balance between research and formal training.

Using waste as a resource is the way forward to realize a full circular and sustainable society. One of the most predominant waste streams in Europe concerns wastewater treatment sludge, with a total annual production surpassing 13 million tons. Sludge typically contains a diverse range of recalcitrant and potential hazardous contaminants such as PFAS, endocrine disruptors, pathogens and heavy metals, which necessitates the use of efficient & sustainable treatment strategies. Because of these hazardous substances, the beneficial use of sludge is currently limited with no adequate overall solutions. INCLUE responds to this opportunity by developing novel sludge treatment routes, generating the required insights to allow an optimisation of the current routes, assessing the effects of sludge application, and most importantly, training high-skilled experts in the rapidly expanding field of handling waste as a resource for renewable chemicals, materials and fuels. The main R&D emphasis of INCLUE lies indeed on developing innovative technological advances that combine the elimination of the increasingly present contaminants in sludge with a maximum resource recovery. Ten creative and entrepreneurial-minded DCs will be trained via an international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research training program, pushed by a broad consortium of 6 academic and 11 industrial organisations. The highly relevant field, combined with an advanced training program that encompasses transversal skills and training through research will ensure that highly trained professionals will enter the job market, further strengthening the competitiveness of the EU in this domain.

SYSTEMIC will reach a break-through to re-enter recovered nutrients from organic waste into the production cycle. Consequently, this will offer solutions for pressing environmental issues and to reduce the import of P as finite irreplaceable resource in mines. The SYSTEMIC project aims to shift the European Biomass treatment practice to the next level. Departing from existing business cases and a new ground-breaking large scale demonstration plant, the future of anaerobic digestion (AD) value chains will be investigated and demonstrated. The result will help existing and future AD-operators to maximise their performance: produce and sell more quality products, generate more energy and be independent on subsidies. By the market driven leadership, the SYSTEMIC-project will finally turn biomass waste into valuable products while reducing water pollution, greenhouse gas emission and creating quality jobs in rural areas. The planned demonstration plant will allow innovative combinations of modules to elaborate possible optimizations for increasing the production quantity and quality of new mineral products, and the integration of these products into a circular economy. Reflecting the experiences from the demonstration plant with a set of 4 mirror cases in different members states allow systemic innovation including end-user driven (a) specific technical development and (b) the cost efficient investigation of real world circular economy business cases and (c) operational, regulatory, institutional and contextual barriers to overcome. Using partial funding from the EC, the SYSTEMIC industry-driven consortium will validate for the first time the technical and economic viability of a fully integrated, multistep approach in an operational environment. The successful practical demonstration will put the European sector in a leading position to offer efficient mineral recovery technologies.