INNOVATEX - I3X - 3
Assessment of Scalability Processes for
Industrial Decarbonization
Initiating Partner: UPC BarcelonaTech
Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering (CCEM Barcelona)
Initiating Partner Contact: Professor Jose Luis Cortina
Work Package alignment
NUTRITION
+ with some alignment to Energy & Mobility
What are the desired outcomes of I3X-3?
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SMAR3TS project partner - UPC BarcelonaTech and its R2EM research and innovation team at Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering (CCEM Barcelona) are working on Industrial Feasibility of brine mining for Cl2(g) and Mg (OH)2(s) production in collaboration with Spanish chemical producers. Pure separation of metals from mine tailings and industrial waste from metallurgical industries and urban e-waste remains a big problem, as the recovery process contains often a mixture of raw materials. The goal of R2EM team is to assess the scalability of industrial decarbonization processes.
What skills and capabilities (across disciplines) would be beneficial for I3X-3?
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Economic feasibility assessment, TEA and LCA for industrial decarbonization
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Development of green tax/eco tax scenarios
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Understanding of industrial maturity of technologies
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Knowledge on recovery of critical raw materials
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Knowledge of hydrogen production processes
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Skills on analysis of the circular approaches to recovery of critical raw materials
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Knowledge about ion exchange
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Techno-economic analysis in industrial scale (currently only lab scale assessments are available)
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Collaboration with the government and companies needed
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Knowledge of the impact of battery waste (need for further impact assessment)
Examples of Challenges that need to be addressed for I3X-3?
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Major challenge: high costs and high energy consumption for industry in membrane distillation and nanofiltrati
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Development of green tax/eco tax scenarios
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Assess market and conditions for industrial pilots (currently an ongoing collaboration on a first pilot with an automotive batteries manufacturing company within EU R&I Actions METALLICO)
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Techno-economic analysis in industrial scale (currently only lab-scale assessments are available)
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Substitution of vacuum salt by high-quality NaCl brine in desalination processes (from seawater to clean water)
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Development of decarbonization processes to avoid evaporation/crystallization of critical raw materials
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Business case for a chemical company e.g., on e-waste battery recovery processes
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Reduction of acidic mining or acidic mines’ treatment processes
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Recovery of materials as fertilizes for soils (developing further collaboration with the University of Palermo in Italy
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Economic evaluation of critical and strategic raw materials recovery
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Developing scenarios for upscaling of industrial decarbonization processes (e.g. with Veolia (France), mining companies in Australia (e.g., BHP), energy companies (with expertise on heating and cooling in Finland); and water purification processes (e.g., with industry partners in USA – e.g., RIOTINTO)
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Reducing energy consumption in nanofiltration processes
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Lithium recovery from battery waste (currently, only experiments were done on the lab scale, but not tested with the industry
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Potential collaboration with companies such as industrial projects with RIOTINTO (Serbia), Lithium-Iberia (Spain) and Savannah (Portugal).
I3X-3 Alignment to R3 - Resilience, Restoration, Regeneration
Restoration
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Recovery and reuse of critical raw materials for the future of mobility
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Maximizing water reuse and water recovery through smart, circular and integrated solutions for sustainable energy use and production
Regeneration
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Regenerative food production and recycling
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Regeneration processes in the pyrometallurgical industry