CORNERSTONE - Combined technologies for water, energy and solute recovery from industrial process streams

Initial situation:

In three case studies, CORNERSTONE is focussing on water, energy, and solute recovery, targeting end-users in the steel, P&P, and chemical industries. These industries are crucial in realizing the objectives of P4Planet to transform European process industries, making them circular and achieving overall climate neutrality at the EU level by 2050, thus enhancing their global competitiveness.

Project targets:

  • Test, advance, and optimize novel water treatment modules on a laboratory scale and design CORNERSTONE systems in combination with existing industrial processes.
  • Test, advance, and optimize smart monitoring tools for the digitalization and intensification of industrial processes.
  • Integrate and validate CORNERSTONE system configurations at three demonstration sites (steel, P&P, and chemical industries).
  • Quantify the sustainability of CORNERSTONE's solutions in environmental, economic, and social dimensions.
  • Develop decision support tools for digitally enabled industrial water, energy and resources stewardship

Innovative approaches:

Test, advance, and optimize innovative technologies for

  • Energy recovery
    • Module 1: Non-clogging heat exchanger
    • Module 2: Anaerobic membrane reactor
  • Water recovery
    • Module 3: Nanofiltration
    • Module 4: Membrane distillation
  • Solute recovery
    • Module 5: Bipolar Electrodialysis
    • Module 6: Membrane crystallization
  • Digitalisation
    • Modelling and simulation of technology modules
    • Application and optimisation of smart monitoring tools

Benefits for the industry (Case Study 1: Steel Industry, BFI and HKM):

  • Reduction of water evaporation and discharge losses by reusing waste heat from the gas scrubbing water cycle of a hydrogen-fuelled direct reduction plant via heat exchanger (module 1).
  • Desalination of the wastewater by using membrane distillation (module 4) and utilising the recovered waste heat.
  • Use of the recovered water for H2 production, closing the cycle and minimising the need for fresh water.

The BFI is responsible for Module 1 and Module 4: Heat exchanger/waste heat utilisation for process water treatment with membrane distillation. It deals with waste heat utilisation from the gas scrubbing cycle of direct reduction plants for iron ore. The BFI is also coordinating WP2: Digitalisation of processes and intelligent monitoring.

Please find further information about CORNERSTONE here.

CORNERSTONE is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Project duration: 1/2024 – 12/2027

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