Two European projects working for different types of industries, but with one common objective: decreasing freshwater consumption while introducing circularity and wastewater treatment technologies, are joining forces. Reducing freshwater consumption is an ambitious and important target. In Europe, industrial activities use about 243,000 cubic hectometres of water every year on average, consequently, water-saving innovations will allow freshwater to be used for other purposes such as in local communities, farming, and bio-based industries.
AGENSO, the coordinator of the AccelWater project, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, and European Science Communication Institute, the coordinator and the Work Package leader for Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication of the iWAYS project respectively, had a meeting to start the collaboration. This process is encouraged by the EU, as part of the networking activities between thematically similar projects.
Both projects have as a target water and energy savings and the reduction of the environmental footprint for European industries and have received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 958266 and 958274 respectively.
About AccelWater
The main objective of the AccelWater project is to optimize freshwater water consumption in the food and beverage industry under a water-waste-energy nexus by introducing beyond state-of-the-art water reclaiming, reusing and Artificial Intelligence enabled monitoring and control technologies that will permit the use of reclaimed water in the manufacturing processes of food and beverages. On the same time, it will allow waste and energy reclamation, optimization and management, and consequently will result to environmental sustainability, cost savings and the development of added value products and value chains through material recovery.
The duration of the project is 48 months (starting from November 1st 2020), and the consortium comprises eighteen partners from five EU countries.
About iWAYS
The main objective of the iWAYS project is to develop a set of technologies and systems for industrial processes in order to recover water and heat, and in some cases materials, from exhaust streams. The aim is to reduce resource consumption and increase energy efficiency. Environmental challenges will be also addressed, as industries will aim to reduce emissions. By using Heat Pipe-Based Heat Exchangers with new materials and special designs capable of operating in peak conditions, iWAYS will differentiate itself from other projects in the field and will allow the development of novel heat exchangers to better withstand the corrosive and high particle loaded exhaust.
The duration of the project is 48 months (starting from December 1st 2020), and the consortium comprises nineteen partners from eight EU countries.
