Ongoing projects

ONGOING PROJECTS

Industrial water circularity: reuse, resource recovery and energy efficiency for greener digitized EU processes (RESURGENCE), HORIZON-CL4-2023-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-04 (Grant Agreement Number: 101138097), Started 12/2023

RESURGENCE addresses industrial circular water systems in a wide perspective which embraces efficient technologies for water circularity, energy and feedstock recovery, with the aim of contribute to EU climate neutrality, circularity, and competitiveness. RESURGENCE will work in 4 case studies that include 3 industrial sectors – Pulp&Paper, Chemical and Steel – as well as a 4th case to explore the synergies between urban water treatment and industries. Innovative solutions will be tested for water treatment – membranes, electrochemical technologies, adsorbents, advanced oxidation processes and hybrid biological systems – exploring also the recovery of energy (heat, electricity, biogas, H2) and feedstocks (bioactive fenols, biopolymers, cellulose, lignin, latex, acrylic polymers, phosphate & nitrogen, biochar, MOFs and metals, including Critical Raw Materials). Digital tools will be also developed and applied, including models for energy, water and risk management, physical and software sensors for data acquisition, digital twins, and decision-support tools enabling optimal water treatment technology set-up and day-to-day operation with seized flexibility opportunities on smart grids. The project will be guided by a comprehensive sustainability and economic assessment to support by evidence the gains of these technologies, togheter with H&S analysis. Local effects multiplication of case studies is pursued by promoting seeds of future hubs for circularity. A comprehensive consortium of 20 partners from 11 countries covering the whole geographical scope of the EU, and with international cooperation with Turkey and Pakistan will work together to achieve significant outcomes and produce long-term impact.

Innovative Solutions for Plastic Free European Rivers (INSPIRE), HORIZON-MISS-2022-OCEAN-01-04, European Union (Grant Agreement Number: 101112879), Started 06/2023

INSPIRE's main objective is to contribute to the drastic reduction of litter, macro and microplastics in European rivers in a holistic approach, by bringing together 20 technologies and actions for:

DETECTION of the pollution present in the river and at the riverbank, COLLECTION of litter and macroplastics at the river bank and litter, macro and microplastics in the river, PREVENTION of litter, macro and microplastics to enter the river by collecting it from its waste stream before it can enter the river and by developing biodegradable alternatives for currently non-degradable polluting products, to avoid they will further be used and arrive in the river as litter. Six use case are defined in INSPIRE to install and test the technologies and actions, to model the processes related to the water purification activities, to obtain 7 well defined solutions at detection, collection or prevention level and combinations thereof. The technical feasibility is backboned by a techno-economical analysis with the development of business cases for the solutions, action plans towards upscaling and replication and together with mapping and modelling all elements are brought together to develop a Master Plan for tackling the challenges of the mission and contributing to the objectives of the mission. The INSPIRE project will be very visible due to its well developed dissemination and communication plan and strategy for community engagement. Apart from the general dissemination and communication tools and activities, specific activities will be setup on festivals, promoting 100% biodegradable products as a result of INSPIRE.

INSPIRE's consortium is composed of 26 partners with complementary expertise and a good balance of academia, industry, communication specialists and soft skills organisations is obtained, who all together will work towards the target of having a number of successful solutions that can find their way to the market and put INSPIRE on the radar.

Fullskalig kommersiell prototyp för nyckelfärdiga produktionssystem för hållbar närproducerad mat, (start date: 2022-06-30, Diarienummer: 2022-01240), Vinnova

The investment relates to the development, construction and establishment of a reference facility for environmentally friendly land-based cultivation of protein for human consumption (arctic char). With only minor adaptations, the standardized turn-ey facility will be sold or leased to customers in and outside Sweden. The standardization makes the concept commercially viable and fills a need in the so-called Blue Foods market. The size and capacity of the production facility, approx. 2000 tonnes per year, means a limited

need for water, energy and land. It opens up for locally produced food with very little environmental impact. The vision is to be able to sell a significant number of facilities in delivery projects within and outside the EU. The potential in this emerging market is considered significant as the Blue foods market and land based production of fish is an emerging mega-market.

Electrochemical cells for sustainable energy (start date: 2021-07-01, ref. no. 21-105), Åforsk

We will develop efficient electrochemical cells to produce hydrogen from water and industrial exhaust gas. This will be accomplished by anchoring active molecular electrocatalysts on pyridine modified carbon cloth through covalent bonding interaction to achieve robust and product selective anodes and cathodes for electrochemical cells. These electrodes will resolve three major drawbacks with the currently used electrodes

1. Improve stability of the molecular electrocatalysts,
2. Improve the overpotential and current density of water oxidation (WO), proton reduction (PR) and CO2 reduction (CR) and
3. Offer selectivity by strategically designed molecular counterpart of the electrodes to remove the cost of product purification and analysis.

Adaptive & Intelligent System for Simultaneous Water &Energy Production (AIS-SWEP) (start date: 2021-11- 30, Diarienummer: 2021-02313), Vinnova-DST (India)

The project will undertake the development of a smart and learning algorithm, which will be integrated with SWT’s Flexwater system and installed as a Kiosk. In addition, SWT & HPCL will incorporate the system as a mobile solution that can be moved easily between locations and implement the WAAS model to validate its use within the urban or rural Indian populations. From the sustainability perspective, SWT & HPCL will tailor the system to be powered and run by solar power with a high water recovery. From the H₂ generation part, while SWT will provide a unit that can provide high-grade water for electrolysis applications, KTH and HPCL will undertake the development of a new material which is low cost and long lasting for H2 generation through water electrolysis. KTH and HPCL will also design a test rig where H2 can be generated through water electrolysis using the new material.

Plastics monitoRIng detectiOn RemedIaTion recoverY (PRIORITY) (start date: 1 January 2019), COST Project of Horizon Europe

The "Plastics monitoRIng detectiOn RemedIaTion recoverY - PRIORITY" Action aims to develop a research network focused on developing, implementing, and consolidating strategies to tackle the global challenge of micro- and nano-plastics environmental pollution.

Sustainable Wastewater Treatment for Hospitals [SWaTH], 618540-EPP-1-2020-1-LB-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP, ERASMUS (EU Project)

The SWaTH project responds to the priorities addressed at national and regional levels by focusing on the exchange of good practices with EU partners by promoting contact with Lebanese hospitals and ministries, by forming an academic support team with international outreach and by establishing a pioneering academic wastewater treatment facility in five of the best Lebanese Universities. In line with this, the intensive training offered in the European countries for the key Lebanese faculty members as part of this project will have a positive impact on their skills and competences. As a result, these faculty members from partner institutions will have higher teaching and research standards and will have a better ability to specify the most efficient and effective hospital wastewater treatment technique used in Europe. More to the point, this project allows the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of the Environment and the Syndicate of Hospitals to verify the methods currently used in Lebanon for the treatment of hospital wastewater and the level of compliance of these methods with European and international standards.

Mitigating off-flavour compounds geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol by applying capacitive deionization and nanotechnology in RAS” (CDI-NANO-RAS), Start Date 2021-03-01, Diarienummer: 2020-02635 NordForsk/FORMAS

Fine fish aquaculture is currently experiencing significant pressure to improve its environmental sustainability to allow it to continue its rapid growth. As a result of these pressures, the industry is increasingly adopting land- based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), where water usage is minimised and the risks of release of inbred strains with associated diseases into wild populations is eliminated as are the associated nutrients that cause local environmental problems. Perhaps the biggest barrier to this industry migration to RAS, is the development of off-taste in these systems caused by the accumulation of geosmin and other chemicals to which the human palate is particularly sensitive. These chemicals are produced by microbial communities in biofilms and in the water column. The current solution to this off-taste development is to purge fasting fish for up to 14 days in clean water with associated significant weight and value loss. Traditional antimicrobial techniques to combat the off- taste micro-organisms are unavailable in RAS due to their negative impact on biofilters as well as their toxic effects on the growing fish. This consortium consists of a strong combination of University, RTD and Industrial partners from Denmark, Sweden and Norway with expertise in RAS systems, biofilm development and microbial off-flavour chemical production, as well as nanomaterials and water quality control. The CDI-NANO-RAS project aims at testing novel technologies for the control of off chemicals in RAS as well as purging systems. We hypothesise that the combined use of novel capacitive deionization (CDI) technology and photocatalytic nanotechnological surface coatings can provide an energetically efficient method for the control of off-taste development in RAS as well as in reducing the duration and water usage in pre-harvest purging. The overall aim is to develop cost effective solutions applicable for the modern RAS industry.

Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra) TerraClean programme, Diary No. 2015/31)

With a vision to address global sustainability challenges, the Mistra TerraClean program will use naturally occurring and commercially important raw materials indigenous to Sweden, such as (nano)cellulose and mesoporous inorganic materials invented and developed in Sweden, to develop smart materials for removal of chemical wastes and pollutants from ambient water and air in the environment and industrial effluents. The program will integrate strong research and innovation environments in the Stockholm-Uppsala region to a national hub capable to provide expertise required to set necessary momentum and advance smart materials science beyond the current state-of-the-art. Urgent and timely problems in Sweden are addressed but at the same time the program will drive solutions to filtering problems on a global scale.

Completed projects

Deterministic models for the prediction of ion adsorption-desorption processes in capacitive desalination devices (Deterministiska modeller för förutsägelse av jonadsorptions-desorptionsprocesser i kapacitiva avsaltningsanordningar), 2018-05387 (start date: 1 January 2019), Swedish Research Council (3.45 MSEK)

With depleting fresh water sources across the world, there is a growing interest in desalination. capacitive deionization (CDI) is considered to be a promising option for the desalination of brackish water. In this project we will improved-modified Donnan (i-mD) model to describe electro-migration, electroadsorption and desorption processes occurring within a flow-through CDI unit. This will be extended by building functions with commonly expressed parameter-sets for CDI electrode materials, to widen its scope to integrate processes where the fluid flow takes place perpendicular to the electrode plane. These will then be extended to incorporate the effects of nanostructured coatings on the electrode surface and externally controllable parameters like flow rate, temperature and potential, to predict electrosorption dynamics. Additionally, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models will be developed to explore the relationship between pressure drop, fluid flow rate, surface fluid distribution and electrode material properties. The equations will be compiled into a Finite Element Model that will be validated using activated carbon cloth (ACC) as electrode material in a CDI operation in a strictly flow- through process. The research, development and measurements will be carried out at Functional Materials unit at KTH within a period of four years. In brief, the project outlines a method to build deterministic models for statistically available data on electrosorption processes.

CLAIM focuses on the development of innovative cleaning technologies and approaches, targeting the prevention and in situ management of visible and invisible marine litter in the Mediterranean and Baltic European Union Horizon 2020 programme, Cleaning Litter by developing and Applying Innovative Methods in european seas — CLAIM programme, 774586-CLAIM-H2020-BG-2016-2017/H2020-BG-2017-1 (start date: 14th November 2017), 423,021 Euro (6 M Euro project)

CLAIM focuses on the development of innovative cleaning technologies and approaches, targeting the prevention and in situ management of visible and invisible marine litter in the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea. Two innovative technological methods will be developed, a photocatalytic nanocoating device for cleaning microplastics in wastewater treatment plants and a small-scale thermal treatment device for energy recovery from collected litter on board ships and ports. An innovative floating boom for collecting visible litter and a method to measure microlitter on board ships (Ferrybox) will be developed. The proposed cleaning technologies and approaches prevent litter from entering the sea at two main source points, i.e. wastewater treatment plants and river mouths. Effectiveness of developed devices and methods will be demonstrated under real conditions. Additionally, CLAIM will develop innovative modeling tools to assess the marine visible and invisible plastic pollution at basin and regional scales (Saronikos Gulf, Gulf of Lyon, Ligurian Sea and Belt Sea). An ecosystems approach will be followed to evaluate the potential benefit from proposed litter cleaning methods to ecosystem services. New business models will be developed to enhance the economic feasibility for upscaling the innovative cleaning technologies, taking into account the existing legal and policy frameworks in the CLAIM countries, aswell as acceptance of the new technologies by their end-users and relevant stakeholders. The data and information produced will be made available to policymakers, stakeholders and end-users in a user-friendly format, both meaningful and tailored to each stakeholder group. CLAIM aims at the same time to raise public awareness with respect to having healthy oceans and seas, clean of litter and pollutants, and hence the importance of reducing marine (macro, micro and nano) pollution in European seas and beyond towards restoring marine ecosystems based on a circular economy.

Hydrogen energy by solar activation of cellulose (HESAC)- ERANET Bio-energy (Project No. 45504-1), (start date: 25th June 2018) Swedish Energy Agency - Energimyndigheten (300 KEuro (€ 654,610 Project))

Forests store vast amounts of carbon and energy and wood has classically been our major source of energy until it was usurped by coal in 1850. Over 2 billion people across the world still use wood for heat and

cooking. With the onset of digital age, there has been a drop in demand for newsprint, resulting in rethinking of economics of paper making and energy policy towards the use of the renewable bioenergy. Combined to this, the urge for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and protection of our environment needs renewed thinking for the production of bio-energy. This consortium of higher education institution (KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden) an SME’s from Poland (Ekologsp. z o.o.) and another SME from Germany (Zoz GmbH working as an associate partner) propose to utilise sunlight to transform cellulosic materials to useful hydrogen energy which can be used in remote and transportation applications as well as in cogeneration of energy. The proposed breakthrough technology has a potential to revolutionise the utilisation of non-food forest resources for energy production.

Gas and Oil Processing, a European Lebanese Cooperation (GOPELC), 561530-EPP-1-2015-1-RO-EPPKA2- CBHE-JP; Erasmus+ CBHE action (About 350 K SEK)

This new curriculum programme in the field of Gas and Oil Engineering is introduced by a joint effort between the EU and the Lebanese Universities within the framework of the Erasmus Plus Capcity Building project that will address the main issues, that the Lebanese society and the Lebanese Higher educational system are facing in the field of Gas and Oil processing. The new Master programme contents will provide qualified professional resources capable of sustaining and managing the gas and oil industry development in Lebanon and abroad.

Modellutveckling för att pilotanläggningar för kapacitiv avjonisering ska avsalta vatten mer effektivt

J. Gust. Richert stiftelse (start date 1 July 2020) About 350 K SEK

The project aims to develop modeling methods to solve challenges of CDI facilities in pilot scale. Methods will be developed to describe complex systems where it is difficult to measure individual components in detail to predict and improve ion selectivity in CDI systems. Finally, an app will be developed to automate the implementation of the model. The project is expected to assist Swedish companies to bring CDI technology to applications for mitigating Swedish and global water shortages.

Prevention of biofouling using photocatalytic nanocoatings, VINNMER Incoming - planning grant, Vinnova (Sweden), 2016-02838 (33 515 SEK)

Biofouling is undesirable attachment and growth of microscopic and macroscopic organisms on submerged surfaces. The project starts a fruitful collaboration between KTH and SQU, preparing a successful VINMER Marie Curie proposal and developing new green antifouling coatings using visible light photocatalysis of sea water.

Nanotechnology for Water Desalination and Other Applications, The Research Council, Sultanate of Oman – (2011-2016) About 7.5 Million USD

The project was launched to establish a research program in Nanotechnology for Water Desalination and other applications at SQU with a multidisciplinary team comprising of existing faculty and staff at of the University to provide research leadership and build human capacity in the area of nanotechnology for water desalination and other applications. Task as a chair included strategic planning, project development and planning, project management and also supervision of research staff and postgraduate students. The Chair promoted interdepartmental collaboration in SQU and developed a coherent research with a focused effort in order to increase knowledge in nanotechnology and developed activities around the application of nanotechnology in water desalination, energy and environment. In terms of industrial, economic and social expectations, the cornerstone of the Chair was to make available unique methods and processes for water desalination. The Chair also built up collaborations with internationally recognized leaders during the four years of activity in Oman.

Joint China-Sweden Mobility programme (2019-2021), STINT

Research on the charge transport in perovskite solar cells with broad spectrum response.

Centre of Electron Microscopy for Materials Sciences (CEM4MAT)

www.cem4mat.se