GOT-SUSTERTECH
Getting on top of Sustainable electrochemical remediation technologies for chlorinated hydrocarbons pollution associated to industrial activities
PDC2021-121105-I00

SUSTERTECH4CH was focused on the development up to TRL 4-5 of novel technological electrochemical processes aimed to minimize the environmental impact of industrial activities that use or produce chlorinated hydrocarbons. Its multi-scale view (from lab to prototype) explains part of the success reached from the scientific (more than 100 high impact papers) and the applicability viewpoints, with part of the findings already transferred (those related to soil treatment) and other part which are aimed to be transferred throughout this new project proposal (those related to sludge, liquid and gaseous wastes treatment). In this regard, DGA (Government of Aragon) and public company EMGRISA are strongly motivated to help us to raise the TRL of our technologies, following previous successful collaboration already started up. Both, the institution and the public company, are strongly committed to the remediation of one of the most hazardous polluted sites in Spain and three specialists have joined our supporting research team, being essential for the success of this application. At this respect, this proposal will transfer our waste treatment technology by testing two cases studies in which it will be faced the dismantling of the leachate reservoir of the Sardas landfill (one of the most relevant polluted sites in Spain) using electrochemically assisted technology and increasing the TRL of our technologies up to 7. This pond sizes 50×25 sqm and accumulates a thickness of more than 1 m of organochlorinated strongly polluted sludge. The dismantling of the pond is considered a critical operation, with a very high risk of affecting environment. Our technology has been identified as a viable solution. Electrokinetic processes and ohmic heating would improve conditions for sludge removal under safe conditions, while the other electrochemical processes developed in our research project will attain the full treatment of the sludge, leachates and the gases generated in the dismantling. Solar photovoltaic powering will be used for a more sustainable approach according to our projects
view. We aim first to raise TRL 4-5 up to TRL 6 by tuning our technology to the conditions of the Sardas sludge pond. Then, we aim to design, parcel up and implement the remediation of two plots of the pond (7×7 m2) in summer and wintertime raising TRL up to 7. We are going to provide the public sector of an important tool from which research investment can be refunded again to Society, while we are solving a dramatically important environmental problem with world relevance. Finally, it is intended to generate an expertise that can be used by the Society in future actions, developing the complete value chain for getting added value to our proposal by generating the consortium capable to
expand the technology and face many other polluted sites all around the world either directly or by licensing the technology reaching TRL 8.