H2020 MIDES Project: Microbial desalination for energy-efficient drinking water
- Type Project
- Status Filled
- Execution 2016 -2020
- Assigned Budget 6.328.164,13 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing H2020
- Project website MIDES
The work carried out during the first 36 months of the project consisted primarily of the development of the MDC components (electrodes and membranes), process integration, and pre-pilot validation, along with technical process simulation, automation, and control. The design and construction of the MDC pilot plant began. Numerous dissemination and operational activities were carried out on the market.
Regarding electrode development, different carbon-based electrode concepts were evaluated in terms of their electrochemical properties and industrial viability. As a result of the previous work, electrode requirements for use in MDC reactors were defined. Thanks to these requirements, nanostructured electrodes were achieved at laboratory scale and compared with commercial materials.
Regarding membrane development, specifications for IE membranes for use in MDC systems were defined. Following the definition of these initial specifications, IE membranes with advanced properties were produced in a batch process. These membranes were characterized and tested at laboratory scale under operating conditions, and in-situ characterization and cleaning procedures were developed. IE membranes were subsequently produced using an industrially scalable continuous process.
Using the data obtained from the development of electrodes and membranes, the MIDES MDC pre-pilot unit was built and is being tested under real-world conditions.
Finally, in terms of technical actions, the pretreatment process was optimized for process integration and pre-pilot validation, and the overall process was modeled and simulated.
With the information obtained, the pilot plant was designed, incorporating the elements developed in the previous months and the operational information obtained at the laboratory and pre-pilot scales. Pretreatment and post-treatment were included, and construction began.
Regarding the market, MIDES' Business and Exploitation Plan was developed and updated during months 6 and 12. A Business Plan development workshop was organized with the assistance of the EC's Common Exploitation Booster service.
All Consortium members carried out various outreach activities, which can be found on the project website: http://midesh2020.eu/ and on social media. It is important to highlight the various brochures, posters, and a demonstration microprototype that have been shown at the numerous events where the project has been present (Leading Edge Technology Conference IWA; Aquatech; IDA World Desalination Congress; European Desalination Society Conferences; COP 23-24 UN Climate Change Conference). A video to disseminate the project is also available on the website.
Freshwater scarcity has become one of the greatest challenges facing societies worldwide. Desalination offers the opportunity to significantly increase the supply of freshwater for human consumption, industrial use, and irrigation. All current desalination technologies require considerable electrical or thermal energy consumption. The most common desalination technology is reverse osmosis (RO), which has thermodynamic limitations targeting 1.09 kWh/m³ for seawater with 50% recovery.
The objective of the MIDES (Microbial Desalination for Low-Energy Drinking Water) project is to develop a unique and innovative system for obtaining drinking water through advanced, low-energy desalination processes.
MIDES will develop the world's largest demonstrator of an innovative, energy-efficient technology for drinking water production, using microbial desalination cell (MDC) technology, either independently or as a pretreatment for RO.
The project focuses on overcoming current limitations of MDC technology, such as low desalination rates, high manufacturing costs, biofouling and membrane fouling issues, optimizing the microbial-electrochemical process, scaling up the system, and ensuring the economic viability of the technology.
The desalination system will be powered by wastewater treatment using an equally innovative technology: the microbial fuel cell. In this biological reactor, bacteria utilize the organic matter in wastewater to produce electricity, which in turn enables salt migration through selective membranes. Therefore, advanced materials (nanostructured electrodes, ceramic and ion-exchange membranes) will be developed to help convert current treatment processes into a wastewater energy recovery and desalination strategy.
The project's results will open the door to a new market for low-cost desalination in low- to medium-capacity decentralized plants, which will simultaneously treat wastewater with a positive energy balance.
The combination of these systems will mark a significant milestone in the design of the cities of the future, equipping them with comprehensive wastewater treatment plants that generate electricity and desalinate water within intelligent management and control systems.
Freshwater scarcity has become one of the major challenges facing societies worldwide. Water desalination offers the opportunity to significantly increase the supply of freshwater for human consumption, industrial use, and irrigation. All current desalination technologies require considerable electrical or thermal energy consumption, and current reverse osmosis (RO) desalination units consume at least 3 kWh/m³. In extensive testing conducted approximately 10 years ago, the Affordable Desalination Collaborative (ADC) in California measured RO energy consumption of 1.6 kWh/m³ with the best commercially available membranes, and a total plant energy consumption approximately double that.
To overcome the thermodynamic limitations of RO, which target 1.09 kWh/m³ for seawater with 50% recovery, Microbial Desalination Cells (MDCs) simultaneously treat wastewater and generate energy to achieve desalination. MDCs can produce approximately 1.8 kWh of bioelectricity from the treatment of 1 m³ of wastewater. This energy can be used directly to i) completely remove the salt content from seawater without external energy input, or ii) partially reduce salinity to substantially decrease the amount of energy required for subsequent desalination treatment.
MIDES aims to develop the world's largest demonstrator of an innovative, energy-efficient technology for producing drinking water, using MDC technology independently or as a pretreatment for reverse osmosis.
The project will focus on overcoming the current limitations of MDC technology, such as low desalination rate, high manufacturing costs, biofouling and membrane fouling problems, optimization of the microbial-electrochemical process, system scale-up, and the economic viability of the technology. This will be achieved through innovation in nanostructured electrodes, antifouling membranes (using nanoparticles with biocidal activity), electrochemical reactor design and optimization, expertise in electrochemistry and microbial physiology, and process engineering and control.
The MIDES project, through the development of a combined desalination and wastewater treatment system, will facilitate access to safe, clean drinking water, as well as the availability of treated wastewater for reuse in irrigation and agricultural applications, at a truly low cost. MIDES will accelerate and rationalize the use of desalinated water worldwide, thereby directly contributing to the economic growth of the desalination market, particularly in the European Union and in areas experiencing water scarcity.
The MIDES project will contribute to improving the quality of life by increasing water resources and reducing pollution in areas where less effective wastewater treatment systems are currently used.
The project's outreach activities will promote desalination to increase public acceptance through information and communication campaigns aimed at increasing social acceptance of desalination-purified water.
In terms of employment opportunities, MIDES has great potential to preserve existing jobs in the water sector by incentivizing companies (SMEs and local businesses) to further develop and increase production by taking advantage of the increased benefits derived from cost reduction, and by expanding the number of jobs in SMEs that manufacture membranes, especially for developing countries, and that design, install, and maintain integrated wastewater treatment systems.
MIDES aims to minimize pollutants in seawater as well as wastewater, resulting in an innovative and energy-efficient process (e.g., MDC in combination with RO) and both freshwater and treated water can have multiple applications for different users, e.g., civil, industrial, agricultural, urban and suburban, etc.
- FCC AQUALIA SA (AQUALIA)
Related projects
