Innovate3X - 3
Assessment of Scalability Processes for Industrial Decarbonization
Initiator: UPC BarcelonaTech
The Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering (CCEM Barcelona) at the UPC BarcelonaTech is a multidisciplinary hub at the forefront of materials science, in the fields of micro and nanoengineering, nanotechnology and biomaterials. Link to the website: https://futur.upc.edu/idioma/en
R2EM research and innovation team at Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering (CCEM Barcelona) is developing research activity on development of sustainable urban and industrial waste management cycles based on resource recovery approaches promoting circular solutions of waste to product and waste to energy. Research also involves efforts on developing environmental remediation solutions for soils and ground water remediation, process and environmental monitoring and environmental risk assessment on ports.
Desired Outcome:
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.
This I3X is looking for skills and capabilities across disciplines aligned to:
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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)
Important:
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SMAR3TS Secondments are open only to SMAR3TS Consortium Partners.
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Secondments aligned to any I3X can be undertaken at either the Initiating Parter premises and/or other SMAR3TS Consortium Partner premises.
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Examples of Challenges that Need to be Addressed
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Major challenge: high costs and high energy consumption for industry in membrane distillation and nanofiltration
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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).
Initiator Institution (UPC) Contact for this I3X
​​​Contact: Prof. Jose Luis Cortina, jose.luis.cortina@upc.edu
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Alignment to Work-Package/s
SMAR3TS domains that are relevant to the work of UPC BarcelonaTech organization/research and innovation team are:
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Lead / Responsible Work Package - Nutrition: e.g., upcycling process of agri-food waste, sustainable food packaging
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SMAR3TS Nutrition Work Package Lead Contact: Assoc. Prof. Letizia Mortara, University of Cambridge, lm367@cam.ac.uk
With some alignment to: ​
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Energy: energy recovery, energy transition, reducing energy consumption
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Mobility: sustainable mobility and digitalization, processes for critical material recovery and reuse in the mobility sector
Alignment to Resilience, Restoration, Regeneration (R3)
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Regenerative food production and recycling
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Regeneration processes in the pyrometallurgical industry
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Restoration: recovery and reuse critical raw materials for the future of mobility
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Restoration: maximizing water reuse and water recovery through smart, circular and integrated solutions for sustainable energy use and production
NOTE:
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Related Keywords
Industrial manufacturing, Material and Transport Technologies, Industrial Manufacture, Materials Technology, Traffic, mobility, Industrial Technologies, Clean Industrial Technologies, Energy Technology, Energy Storage and Transport, Energy production, transmission and conversion, Renewable Sources of Energy, Bio-refineries for energy, Energy Management Technology, Energy efficiency, Recycling, Recovery, Mobility (road, aerospace, marine), Energy Storage Technologies, Energy Market, Alternative Energy, Energy for Industry, Energy for Transport, Industrial Equipment and Machinery, Decarbonization, Mobility.