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Independent industrial water supply by digitalization, simulation and innovative treatment technologies (IndiWater)

Initial situation

Increasing water stress leading to limited or insufficient water availability of ground and river water with negative effects to production processes as continuous casting, hot rolling,
No reuse of waste waters because of to high fluctuating contents of salts, hardness and organic in effluents from emulsion, chemical, biological treatment plants and vacuum treatment
No suitable recovery technologies under technological or economic aspects available
Lak of information about flow rates, compositions and complex water systems an effective water management – upcoming problems in wastewater treatment plants could not be predicted

Project objectives

Water recovery from waste waters containing e.g. oil, fat, heavy metals, bacteria or particles as effluents from degreasing bath, biological/chemical treatment or gas washing water
Improvement of water management and treatment plant operation by prediction tool based on modelling and simulations of the different circuits using new installed digital monitoring and control systems
Decrease of dependency of production processes from freshwater intake by internal wastewater reuse as make up water

Innovative approaches

Prediction tool on basis of SIMBA#
Pre-filtration with new modular ceramic flat membranes for removal of organics and solids
Combination with desalting technologies as coated RO membranes and Membrane based capacitive deionisation to achieve near ZLD.

Project duration: 07/2021 – 06/2024

Project Management Agency: Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)

Funding provider: Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS)

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