Sustainability Area:
Water, Air & Soil
R&D to enhance the competitiveness of businesses through better management of water, air
Eurecat develops and optimises technologies and processes to improve the management of water, soil and air and associated resources. We conduct research, development and innovation projects with businesses across all industries to enhance economic, environmental and social sustainability.
We use advanced modelling and experimental tools at various scales (laboratory, pilot plant and real scale) to develop and validate new technologies and their applications. We work with a wide range of technologies for treating pollutants to mitigate their release into the natural environment and also for resource recovery and to support the transition to a circular economy.
We design pilot projects and procedures tailored to businesses, thereby reducing the risk inherent to R&D by gradual implementation from conceptualisation to rollout through all development stages.
Our Water, Air and Soil Unit’s knowhow coupled with the capabilities of Eurecat’s technology units enables us to deliver solutions for complex and specific problems across a wide range of sectors including water treatment, chemicals, food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals and materials processing and capital equipment.
Experience
Water
- Developing and optimising innovative technology and processes for optimising water management and associated resources.
- Advanced separation, biological treatment, advanced oxidation, electrochemical and disinfection processes for liquid effluent treatment.
- Identifying and evaluating opportunities for efficiency improvement and circular economy implementation.
- Developing processes for eliminating trace and/or recalcitrant compounds and treating complex effluents (salinity, organic matter, etc.).
- Identifying and developing processes for cascade recirculation and reuse in industrial processes.
- Recovering water and liquid effluent resources (nutrients, energy, raw materials).
- Tools for monitoring, prediction and quality assurance in distribution networks.
Soil and groundwater
- Studies, modelling and simulation of the behaviour and mobility of pollutants in soil and groundwater.
- Developing and optimising technologies for in-situ and ex-situ treatment of soil and groundwater.
- Processes for bioremediation, nanoparticles, monitored natural attenuation, permeable reactive barriers, chemical oxidation, stripping, etc.
- Recovery of waste/by-products to improve the physicochemical properties of soil.
Air and emissions
- Air pollution sampling and monitoring in urban, industrial and natural environments.
- Modelling and simulating pollutant dispersion in air for pollution prediction.
- Developing and optimising technology and processes for treating industrial emissions.
- Systems for monitoring and optimising indoor air quality.
- Recovering and recycling value-added gases and volatile compounds.
- Developing technology for capturing CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
Risk analysis
- Chemical and microbiological risk analysis for human health and ecosystems.
- Determining maximum and reference pollutant concentrations in the environment based on risk criteria.
- Pollutant bioaccessibility studies.
- Industrial risk analysis: Evaluation of Safety Reports (SR), Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA), identifying initiators, modelling accidents, calculating consequences, etc.
Simulation and modelling
- Extensive simulation and modelling capabilities for treatment processes.
- Thermodynamic solution modelling: OLI, PHREEQC.
- Computational fluid dynamics: Openfoam, Fluent, CFX.
- Developing proprietary models with generic platforms and languages: Matlab, R, Python, etc.
Services
Scientific and technological assessment
- Analysing and identifying opportunities for improving the management of water, soil and air and associated resources in industrial processes.
- Technological scouting and benchmarking.
- In-house analysis laboratory for characterising physical, chemical and biological parameters.
Pilot evaluation
- Evaluating and optimising separation, biological, advanced oxidation, electrochemical, disinfection and other technologies.
- Test bench trials to define and optimise new technologies and processes.
- Onsite trials under real conditions by means of tailor-made pilots for technical and financial evaluation.
Developing new technologies and processes
- Developing innovative technologies and products in the urban, domestic and industrial fields.
- Coupling technologies to develop hybrid processes and systems.
- Cleantech for industrial processes: food, chemical, pharmaceutical, etc.
Representative sectors
Contact
Xavier Martínez Lladó
Director of Water, Air & Soil Unit
Doctor of Science from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and Chemical Engineering degree from the same university. He has more than 15 years’ experience in coordinating and implementing environmental R&D projects in a wide range of urban and industrial sectors.
- Tel. +34 620 13 59 68
- xavier.martinez@eurecat.org
Oustanding projects
Evaluating and promoting circular economy solutions and systems to transform the European water sector.
Building synergies between industry and water services to promote efficient management of resources and value products through the circular economy concept.
Developing a new decontamination technology for soils highly contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals.
Multimedia
News
Testing using agri-food waste to produce biomethane for the transport industry
The Eurecat technology centre is taking part in the European Life Chandelier project which is to test using agri-food [...]
Nactiva and Climate Resilience Centre team up to work on regenerating the Ebro Delta
Nactiva, a joint platform for protecting and regenerating natural capital in the Mediterranean, and the Climate Resilience Centre have [...]
Chips for key sectors, artificial intelligence, precision fermentation and innovations to protect natural capital are technology trends for 2025
Designing and manufacturing specific chips for key sectors of the economy is one of the technological trends set to [...]
BATTECH innovates in electric battery recycling and circular economy
BATTECH, the joint research unit run by the Eurecat technology centre and the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), [...]
Climate Resilience Centre teams up with UN-backed Global ONCE programme to combat climate change in coastal and marine areas
The Climate Resilience Centre (CRC), coordinated by the Eurecat technology centre, has signed a partnership agreement with the United [...]
Catalan firm Marina Textil partners with Eurecat to create a new fabric harnessing 88 percent of waste previously thrown away
Catalan firm Marina Textil has partnered up with the Eurecat technology centre to roll out a circular economy project [...]
