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– The project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, will develop a portable and modular plant for electrochemical regeneration of this key material for water treatment
– The solution will promote circular resource management and reduce the carbon footprint of activated carbon regeneration
Granular activated carbon is a key material used in industrial and municipal water treatment. In order to revolutionise its regeneration, the REGENIOUS project (REthinking the ReGENeration of spent granular activated carbon) recently launched in Madrid. This project will replace conventional thermal regeneration based on fossil fuels with an innovative electrochemical regeneration technology that combines electrical energy and renewable energy.
Over the next 48 months, REGENIOUS will develop the first portable and modular electrochemical regeneration plant of its kind, capable of operating directly at the end-user’s facilities and enabling in-situ regeneration of spent activated carbon. Demonstration campaigns will be carried out at three drinking water treatment plants in Spain and one wastewater treatment plant in Cyprus, in order to validate the technology under real operating conditions.
Furthermore, Cetaqua-Water Technology Centre will lead a pilot for treating the spent regeneration electrolyte from the portable plant, and another pilot that will study how the carbon degrades over time to develop a tool for predicting its adsorption capacity.
According to Meritxell Valentí, Project Manager and Researcher at Cetaqua, “REGENIOUS is committed to addressing a real challenge: bringing sustainability directly to end-user facilities in a key water treatment process. With our pilots, we will advance towards circularity, purifying the spent electrolyte and developing an innovative tool to determine the operational status of activated carbon, thereby maximising its efficiency and lifespan.
Coordinated by ENVIROHEMP, the project brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of 16 partners from across Europe, including water companies, research centres, universities, technology providers, standardisation bodies and innovation organisations. The consortium comprises Consorcio de Aguas Bilbao Bizkaia, Eparchiakos Organismos Aftodioikisis Larnakas, Aigües de Barcelona, Canal de Isabel II, Extraco Construccions e Proxectos, ASCA, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Fundación GAIKER, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, Cetaqua, Asociación Española de Normalización (UNE), Contactica, C4G, Waterloop Solutions and Water Europe.
The REGENIOUS project coordinator emphasises that this project materialises a vision that ENVIROHEMP has been working on for nearly a decade: developing an electrochemical regeneration technology capable of making activated carbon reactivation more efficient and sustainable. “We are convinced that ENVIROHEMP’s accumulated experience, combined with the knowledge and capacity of this solid European consortium, will enable us to transform this innovation into an industrial solution with tangible impact for the water sector, driving the circular economy and contributing to the decarbonisation of activated carbon regeneration processes.”
Beyond technological innovation, REGENIOUS aims to increase the sustainability and competitiveness of Europe’s water sector, promoting circular resource management and reducing the carbon footprint of activated carbon regeneration. The project will also explore second-life applications for spent activated carbon and develop new business models and sustainability assessment tools to facilitate its future market adoption.
By contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving more resource-efficient industrial processes, REGENIOUS supports the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Circular Economy Action Plan and the Processes4Planet Partnership, helping to pave the way towards a climate-neutral and competitive European industry.
More information about REGENIOUS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/regenious-project/about/
Funded by the European Union. The opinions and viewpoints expressed are the sole responsibility of their authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the funding authority. Neither the European Union nor the funding entity can be held responsible for them.
