Abstract

ElectroRefin4O proposes a paradigm shift in the electrochemical treatment of wastewater and gases contaminated with organic compounds, by introducing the concept of electrochemically assisted organic refinery, which aims to ensure that the ultimate goal of remediation treatments is not the mineralization of organic pollutants, but their transformation into valuable products, starting in this first stage with the formation of carboxylate solutions, whose application as fertilizer absorption promoters and as raw material for the production of other organic species is also intended to be tested. This new concept goes further from the point of view of sustainability, since only photovoltaic solar energy is intended to be used as an energy source, either applied directly or accumulated by means of the proprietary EDEN® chlor-alkali electrochemical storage technology. The application of LCA tools to assess this sustainability, and that of process modeling for a better understanding, allow to increase the TRL and help in obtaining success in a last stage, in which integration and scaling up will be addressed through the evaluation of three case studies: the treatment of polluted wastewater and gases and a very novel system that aims to fix carbon dioxide in the form of carboxylates through its transformation into algae and its later thermoelectrochemical processing. These three final case studies are previously used to assist in the initial stages of the development of the technological components of organic electrorefining concept. The development of electrocatalysts that do not favor mineralization but rather the transformation into carboxylates, that of membranes that allow efficient separation and partial purification of these compounds and that of cells with improved performance, using 3-D printing technology assisted by CFD simulation, are the innovative elements to be tackled. The proposal fits well with Thematic Priority 4 and aims to achieve the necessary TRLs for the start of industrial transfer, for which the objectives have been set under the premises of applicability and sustainability and, to assist and support this goal, the active participation of 5 stakeholders has been proposed. The Research Team is multidisciplinary, active, experienced and large enough to achieve all the proposed milestones. An important Supporting Research Team also participates, including 9 international researchers, with whom active exchange programs are shared, following the successful tradition of previous projects, which strongly promote internationalization through a mutually win-win relationship. As usual in our group, the results will be disseminated in high impact journals and relevant conferences. In terms of management, a single project composed of three closely related sub projects is proposed. One of them focuses on the development at TRL 4 of the components. The second will deal with scaling to TRL 5, with future technology transfer in mind. Both technical developments are coordinated by a third subproject focused on sustainability. The coordination of the project is strong, with two packages designed to favor the transfer of results to Society. The training of new researchers is carefully addressed as an important additional value of the proposal.