Environment
Environment
Adsorbent filter to remove arsenic from contaminated water sources
IP Status: Priority patent application: 6th February 2013 - PCT application. Filing date: 6th February 2014
Description: We have developed an adsorbent filter based on Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPION) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers that has high efficiency for arsenic removal from contaminated Water, 6-fold more efficient than current adsorbent systems. Arsenic contamination in drinking water sources is a public health problem that is not totally solved in the whole of the population areas and countries. At the present time, the arsenic metal amount accepted in water for the human intake has decreased to 10 ppb. We are seeking a company partner to further develop the technology through a co-development and license agreement.
Department: Department Analytical Chemistryand & LEITAT
Contact: Maite Ibern
Mainstream Sewage Nitrogen Removal with Anammox: Low ammonium/temperature not an impediment
IP Status: PCT/EP2014/071636 - Priority patent application EP13382401.1 10/10/2013
Description: The most sustainable (energy-neutral) wastewater treatment plants that are just starting to be developed are using Anammox for nitrogen removal. The main challenge for the success of the treatment is the difficulty of maintaining stable the nitritation process, since nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) may develop in such a granular sludge, producing nitrate, competing with anammox for nitrite and reducing the efficiency of the treatment considerably. We propose that partial nitritation could be achieved in a separate reactor where our technology will be in charge of maintaining partial nitritation without nitrate production (i.e. repressing NOB activity), thus enhancing the good efficiency of the nitrogen removal for main stream
Department: Group Biological Treatment of Liquid and Gaseous Effluents
Contact: Carlos Raga
A method and a system for enhancing Nitrogen removal in a GSBR and computer program
IP Status: PCT/EP2014/065870 - Priority patent application EP13382301 24/07/2013
Description: Aerobic granular sequencing batch reactors (GSBR) have been successfully used for the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater effluents. To date most of the efforts were focused on understanding the behaviour of the GSBR, but not in finding the best practical strategy to be implemented with the aim to improve the N-removal. To that end we developed a system for enhancing N-removal in a GSBR by controlling the dissolved oxygen (DO) by means of a closed loop based, comprising DO set point value automatic calculation (computer program) depending on ammonium concentration measurement at the end of the cycle. N-removal efficiency after the activation of the control strategy increased from 48% to 75% during the first 36 hours and it remained stable during the next 36 hours (Figure 1)..
Department: Group Biological Treatment of Liquid and Gaseous Effluents
Contacte: Carlos Raga