ELECTROCHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY FOR THE REMOVAL OF PESTICIDES FROM WATER, WASTEWATER AND SOILS

CTM2013-45612R

Electrotech4pest focuses on the removal of pesticides from low permeability soil, groundwater and industrial wastewater (coming either from pesticides manufacturing, storage or handling) using electrochemical technology.
Starting point for the project is the background of the Lab researchers in the application of environmental electrochemical technology to: 1) the treatment of industrial wastewater coming from different sources and with different quality and 2) soil remediation using soil flushing, permeable reactive barriers and electrokinetic fence technologies. Research on these topics, during the development of projects financed by Spanish Government (Plan Nacional Calls) and by private companies, supports our know-how.
Synergistic interactions and a high degree of integration of researchers with different background and expertise help us to face the challenge of coupling electrochemical technology with topics as varied as flow in porous media, numerical modeling, energy supply, phyto-remediation, bio-remediation, bio-oxidation and electrochemical advanced oxidation of wastewaters.
The present application, which is submitted to the “Society Challenges” Call of the Spanish Research Program, contains many innovative goals, among them worth mentioning:
– Application of ultrasounds and ultraviolet light to improve efficiency of the removal of pesticides in groundwater and wastewater. This point is very significant because depletion of pollutants is required due to their very high toxicity.
– Coupling of bioremediation and phytoremediation with permeable reactive barriers and electrochemical soil flushing technology.
– Scale-up from lab setups to prototypes. Wastewater treatment (200 l/h) and soil remediation prototypes (32 m3) are fully available for this project.
– Renewable energy will be coupled with electrochemical technology and optimized energy management devices will be developed.
– Modeling will be used to deeply understand the proposed processes and simulation tools will assist in the implementation of technologies at the full-scale.
Previous background of researches supports the transfer of knowledge in top journals and sound meetings. Moreover, supporting companies and institutions (EPOs) will help to transfer results to industry always under sustainability and applicability criteria.