Knowledge Exchange Event 2023 – Speakers and Presentation abstracts
Find out more below about our Knowledge Exchange Event Speakers and their talks:
George Arampatzis
Assoc. Professor, School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, Greece.
George ARAMPATZIS is Assoc. Professor at the School of Production Engineering and Management of the Technical University of Crete. He is the founder and coordinator of the “Industrial and Digital Innovations Research group” (indigo). His research interests focus on Smart ICT Technologies; Process, System and Service Engineering; Energy Systems Management; Environmental Systems Management; Water Resources Management; Decision Making. Technical Coordinator of the H2020- AquaSPICE project and the Principal Investigator of 12 funded projects. He is the author of 6 academic books, 3 book chapters and of more than 100 scientific publications in international peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings.
AquaSPICE – Advancing Sustainability of Process Industries through Digital and Circular Water Use Innovations.
AquaSPICE aims at materializing circular water use in the European Process Industries, fostering awareness in resource-efficiency and delivering compact solutions for industrial applications. That challenging aim necessitates (i) multiple state-of-the-art (SotA) water treatment and re-use technologies, (ii) diverse closer-loop practices regarding water, energy and substances, (iii) a cyber-physical-system controller in the form of a system for real-time monitoring, assessment and optimization of water (re-) use at different interconnected levels and (iv) an effective methodological, regulatory and business framework. AquaSPICE not only offers these but claims their sufficiency, as also supported by the breadth of European process industries who are here to evaluate (i)-(iv). AquaSPICE follows a systemic approach in water management where optimal efficiency can be achieved through an adaptation of appropriate technologies and practices in different levels, from a single industrial process (unit operation) to an entire factory, to other collaborating industries (industrial symbiosis) or other sectors (e.g., domestic and/or agriculture). AquaSPICE enables and facilitates the immediate uptake, replication and up-scaling of innovations, by providing comprehensive strategic, business and organizational plans that offer a range of well-defined and pre-packaged solutions, suitable for various cases with quite different characteristics.
Valentina Bastino
Policy Officer, European Commission, DG Environment, Unit Sustainable Freshwater Management, Belgium.
With an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford, Valentina joined the Directorate General for Environment of the European Commission in 2010, where she has worked on a number of different policy portfolios. She is responsible, amongst other issues, of the Water Reuse Regulation.
Water Reuse – the EU policy environment
This keynote will provide the background to the EU’s regulatory framework for water reuse as well as an update on the most recent developments. It will provide an overview of the main aspects of the Water Reuse Regulation, and a perspective on the current policies regulating the practice of water reuse.
Giorgio Mannina
Professor of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Engineering Department of Palermo University, Italy.
Dr Giorgio Mannina is Director of the Water Resource Recovery Facility at Palermo University including the Water & Resource Recovery Lab. His research interest and focus is on: advanced wastewater treatments (MBR, MBBR, hybrid processes, IFAS, Granular systems etc.), BNR processes, environmental water quality mathematical modelling etc. He is author of more than 350 papers of which >160 on ISI Journals and Editors of around 10 books with more than 30 authored chapters. Prof. Mannina has been visiting Professor/Researcher in several Universities: Columbia University, New York (USA), Tongji University (Shanghai, China), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, (Belgium), Laval University (Canada), The University of Queensland, Australia, Gdansk University (Poland). Prof Mannina is recipient of several international awards which include, among others, the prestigious prize: Biennial Medal Award 2022 from the International Environmental and Software Society in recognition of his “Exceptional Research Contributions”. Prof. Mannina is Associate/Guest Editor of multiple ISI Journals: Journal of Bioresource Technology, Journal of Environmental Management, Journal of Hydrology etc. He is Chair of the International Water Association (IWA) Task Group on Membrane Bioreactor modelling & control and Member of the IWA Specialist Group “Membrane Technology”. Prof. Mannina is Fulbright research Fellow at Columbia University (New York, USA)- 2018. He is/has been Chair of International Conferences, seminars and Advanced courses supported by International Water Association – IWA.
Resource recovery from wastewater: insights from the case study of Palermo University within Wider-Uptake project.
Wastewater treatment plants represent excellent facilities to recovery resources: water, energy, sludge, nutrients. Modern wastewater treatment plants are effective in removing organic contaminants but involve great economic, energy and material costs. The existence of social, technical, economic and regulatory barriers will therefore hamper the widespread implementation of wastewater and sewage sludge reuse. With the final aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of a resources recovery system from wastewater treatment a case study on resource recovery facilities from wastewater has been set-up at Palermo University Campus. The activities are part of the H2020 European Project “Achieving wider uptake of water-smart solutions – Wider Uptake”. Specifically, three streamlines have been build-up: i. water reuse and minimization of sludge production, ii. Biopolymer production as polyhydroxyalcanoates (PHA) and iii. Column system for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) recovery. Insights gained from the case studies will be presented with the final aims to provide a contribution in the transition to circular economy in the water sector.
Salvador Perez
CEO, Chemdoc Water Technologies, France.
Mr Salvador PEREZ is a chemical and process engineer. An expert in reverse osmosis and membranes for water demineralisation and recycling, Mr Perez has 25 years’ experience in membrane process development.
ZEUS : “Zero Liquid Discharge Water ReUSE” food processing plant.
The LIFE- ZEUS project aims to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of an advanced water recycling solution, leading to zero liquid discharge. This demonstrator, located in a major syrup factory, covers all the process water (24m3/h) and aims to demonstrate the efficiency of the recycling process, enabling three flows to be reused:
• High-quality water for food contact,
• Salt for regenerating softener resins,
• Concentrated sugar for the production of renewable energy.
Thomas Rogier
Biologist, Aquaduin, Belgium.
Thomas Rogier is a biologist. Since 2020 he works at Aquaduin where he is responsible for ecological management.
Wastewater treatment with willows: a nature-based solution.
Reuse of wastewater effluent for infiltration has provided Aquaduin a robust and safe way to ensure drinking-water production together with enhanced ecological values in our coastal water catchment areas. The treatment train of the effluent is based on a multiple barrier approach with ultrafiltration prior to reverse osmosis. This approach ensures high quality water suited for infiltration into the aquifer, but the disposal of concentrate is an issue. Aquaduin wanted to reduce the environmental impact of the concentrate discharge and created a ‘willow marsh’. The willow marsh is a constructed wetland of 7500 m2 using willows and associated microorganisms to remove nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The innovative nature of this project is the use of the salt tolerant willow variety Salix x rubens var. Basfordiana instead of the widely used common reed (Phragmites australis). First-year results were encouraging, an increase of the removal rates can be expected as the willows and their root systems, together with the microbial community are still growing. The concept of our willow marsh can be used worldwide for the treatment of concentrate, especially in times of climate change, which might lead to a more widespread application of water reuse based on reverse osmosis.
David Schwesig
Research Co-ordinator, IWW Water Centre, Germany.
David Schwesig, PhD in Environmental Sciences, works with IWW Water Centre (Germany) for more than 20 years. David’s main activities are applied research and consulting for the drinking water sector. He has been coordinator of large-scale EU funded projects for more than a decade now. Currently he is co-ordinator of B-WaterSmart, a Horizon 2020 project with 36 partners clustered in six Living Labs across Europe, aiming to make their local societies more water-smart by fostering the re-use of water and other resources through the implementation of technology, software, and management solutions.
Water reuse in in cities, agriculture and industry: lessons from three European case studies.
The water sector in coastal areas is facing a couple of challenges such as water scarcity and increasing water demands due to climate change and economic and population growth. This can lead to overexploitation of resources, quality deterioration and regional imbalances in the availability of water resources. To tackle these challenges, the EU-funded project B-WaterSmart develops and demonstrates smart technologies and circular economy approaches. In order to implement those solutions more strongly in the practice of the water sector, technical and digital solutions as well as new business models are jointly developed by the project partners following the “Living Lab” approach. The aim is to accelerate the transformation to water-smart economies and societies in coastal Europe and beyond by reducing the use of freshwater resources, improving the recovery and reuse of resources, and increase water use efficiency. The presentation will focus on three case studies and their technical and digital solutions as well as business models. It will report on experiences and success factors to enable re-use, but also on bottlenecks and how they could be overcome.
Heather Smith
Senior Lecturer in Water Governance, Cranfield University, UK.
Dr Heather Smith is a Senior Lecturer in water governance at Cranfield University. Her research explores the societal dimensions of the water and wastewater services sector. Her research interests include customer engagement in sector governance, the role of legitimacy and trust, as well as public perceptions and behaviour towards new technologies and approaches, such as water recycling and smart metering. Through her track record of research projects, she has worked with water utilities and other stakeholders in the UK, Europe, North America and Australia. She has a particular interest in the boundary between social science and engineering. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Higher Education Academy.
Public Perception of Water Recycling for Drinking Water Use – a UK perspective.
This study summarises the status of public perceptions of water recycling in the UK, with a particular focus on potable uses. Using an online survey (n = 1600) and in-depth interviews, the study explored the influence of different scheme configurations (direct vs. indirect), terminology, and communication approaches. Overall, the findings showed that there was a relatively high level of support (79% agreement) for the utilisation of water recycling to supplement drinking water supplies. The results also showed that terminology has a stronger influence on levels of support for water recycling than scheme configuration (e.g., direct configurations had similar levels of support to indirect configurations with environmental buffers). Visual communication tools were found to be useful mechanisms, and potentially impactful when respondents were re- evaluating their initial views. As water recycling gains prominence in the UK, with a growing number of proposed schemes for indirect potable uses, these findings will help shape a national communication strategy.
Gerard van den Berg
Team Leader and Project Manager, KWR, The Netherlands.
Gerard van den Berg has a PhD in Geochemistry. He has more than 25 years of experience in the water sector. At KWR he acts as Team Leader and Project Manager. As Team Leader, he heads up a group of professionals and experts who are responsible for shaping and managing KWR’s national and international research programmes. He is Coordinator of ULTIMATE, a EU funded project focusing on water smart industrial symbiosis and represents KWR in the Water Europe Vision Leadership Team on Circular Water.
ULTIMATE promoting water smart industrial symbiosis.
Circular economy aims to design waste and pollution management with new value chains, by keeping products and materials in re-use and regenerating natural systems. Industrial Symbiosis is a particular type of circularity in which separate industries are engaged in a collective approach involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water, and/or by-products. Industrial symbiosis systems collectively optimize material and energy use at efficiencies beyond those achievable by any individual process alone. As Industry accounts for circa 40% of all water abstractions in Europe, a more water efficient industry can substantially contribute to safeguarding freshwater resources. ULTIMATE acts as a catalyst for a particular type of industrial symbiosis “Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis” in which water plays a key role both as a reusable resource but also as a vector for energy and materials to be extracted, treated, stored and reused to stimulate new circular business arrangements. ULTIMATE creates economic value and increases sustainability by valorising resources within the water cycle. In ULTIMATE we promote wastewater recycling in various industrial settings by demonstration in nine large-scale demonstration cases from the four most important industrial sectors in Europe: the agro-food processing industry, the beverages industry, the heavy chemical/petrochemical industry and biotech industry.
Jonas Van Eeghem
Bioscience Engineer, Aquaduin, Belgium.
Jonas Van Eeghem is bioscience engineer, co-responsible for drinking water quality and environment at Aquaduin since 2022.
Wastewater treatment with willows: a nature-based solution.
Reuse of wastewater effluent for infiltration has provided Aquaduin a robust and safe way to ensure drinking-water production together with enhanced ecological values in our coastal water catchment areas. The treatment train of the effluent is based on a multiple barrier approach with ultrafiltration prior to reverse osmosis. This approach ensures high quality water suited for infiltration into the aquifer, but the disposal of concentrate is an issue. Aquaduin wanted to reduce the environmental impact of the concentrate discharge and created a ‘willow marsh’. The willow marsh is a constructed wetland of 7500 m2 using willows and associated microorganisms to remove nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The innovative nature of this project is the use of the salt tolerant willow variety Salix x rubens var. Basfordiana instead of the widely used common reed (Phragmites australis). First-year results were encouraging, an increase of the removal rates can be expected as the willows and their root systems, together with the microbial community are still growing. The concept of our willow marsh can be used worldwide for the treatment of concentrate, especially in times of climate change, which might lead to a more widespread application of water reuse based on reverse osmosis.
Caroline Van Steendam
Manager Afvalwater, Azulatis, Belgium.
As wastewater manager, Caroline is involved with all wastewater treatment activities at Azulatis. This includes managing current plants, designing new plants, account management and business development. She was immersed in the wondrous world of wastewater treatment during my Masters and PhD in chemical and environmental engineering (KU Leuven, Belgium and UM, USA). I am thankful to have the opportunity to contribute to sustainable waste management while providing solutions for acute water scarcity issues in Flanders.
Presentation title & abstract coming soon.
Elena Zuriaga Agustí
R&D Technical Manager, FACSA , Spain.
Elena Zuriaga Agustí holds a PhD in Engineering and Industrial Production from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. She is a Chemical Engineer with a Master’s degree in Environmental and Industrial Safety from the same university. Currently, she is Technical Manager of R&D at FACSA, coordinating European and national projects, and is an Associate Lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Where she co-directs the Chair of Water, Waste and Circular Economy of FACSA and FOVASA.
LIFE AMIA: Combination of innovative technologies for sustainable water reuse
Water scarcity crisis has led to an increased focus on water reuse and low-energy consumption processes for wastewater treatment. Current technologies for municipal sewage treatment must be transformed to truly shift towards more sustainable approaches. The LIFE AMIA project validates a new concept for Wastewater Treatment Plants that combines a compact Anaerobic-Aerobic treatment, a High-Rate Algal Pond and an Advanced Oxidation Adsorption Process. The aim is to produce high-quality water effluent for reuse in agriculture following the new EU directive. This project achieves obtaining reclaimed water with energy production via biogas production (65±8% CH4) and nutrient recovery of 27.93 g N/m3 and 12.63 g P/m3 treated water. The sludge and microalgae biomass obtained in the treatment process was used as a biofertilizer for degraded soils with positive results. Emerging pollutants removal rates were higher than in conventional WWTP treatment, highlighting the removal of venlafaxine or diclofenac.
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