SENSODES
Development of innovative sensors in wastewater treatment processes
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Implementation period
September 2017 – March 2018
Scope of work
Digital technology
Participants
Ingeobrasinfo@ingeobras.com
Geezarinfo@geezar.es
Universidad de Zaragoza (Grupo Universitario de Investigación Analítica – GUIA) quiman@unizar.es
ZINNAEinfo@zinnae.org
Funding
This project has been funded by the national programme for clusters support “Ayudas a Agrupaciones Empresariales Innovadoras” (AEIs).
Description
The measurement of certain critical parameters necessary in the conditioning and treatment of water is carried out based on analytical techniques in the laboratory, the results of which are quantitatively exact but are known several days later, making the measurement no longer usable at the level of plant adjustments or uncontrolled discharge. This means that the quality of the size, in terms of usefulness, is deficient and generates significant inefficiencies and ineffectiveness in the processes. This is the case of sulphates, ionic species whose origin can be natural or artificial. A high concentration of sulphates can be harmful to live organisms.
Objectives
The specific objectives of the project are listed below:
- To carry out a series of studies and tests linked to the cyber-physical control of physical-chemical parameters of water, aimed at acquiring new knowledge for developing sensors and applications that improve water treatment processes, adapted to the real needs of industry.
- Design and implement a pilot plant for the biological removal of sulphates with the integration of the online measurement and analysis system, according to Industry 4.0 protocols.
- To develop studies and tests linked to the cyber-physical control of physico-chemical parameters in water, to acquire new knowledge for developing sensors and applications that improve water treatment processes, adapted to the real needs of industry.
- Design and implement a pilot plant for the biological removal of sulphates with the integration of the on-line measurement and analysis system.
Results
Sensodes has developed a pilot plant to test and study the influence of various factors on the behaviour of biological desulphation.
This pilot plant consists of a biological phase with completely closed equipment in which anaerobiosis is provoked with sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB), placed on a bed of filtering and porous material with a high specific surface area, to which the necessary nutrients are dosed. The plant has been monitored in real-time, allowing the process to be regulated.
The pilot plant developed at SENSODES has achieved the biological elimination of sulphates and the optimisation of the operation of the plant, determining the design parameters of a full-scale plant, as well as the influence of various conditioning factors on the performance of the biological desulphation, achieving a sulphate reduction of over 60% for retention times of 5 hours.
Several monitoring systems based on turbidimetric and indirect methods using a selective electrode have been tested.
In addition, the consumption of chemicals has been optimised according to the results obtained, which increases the efficiency of the treatment and therefore reduces treatment costs, which is especially beneficial for large water consumers.
