Green Cities & Industries
Resources & Hydrogen
Bringing our knowhow and technologies to resource industry companies, supporting them across the entire natural resources and raw materials value chain
Eurecat’s Resources sector is a strategic partner delivering comprehensive technological services in five major areas of natural resources to unlock disrputive change in companies and address the major challenges of the future.
Services
Mining
- Advanced laboratory services: analysis of pollutants, effluents, metals, etc.
- Process modelling and simulation: studies of precipitation, crystallisation, recovery of strategic chemical compounds.
- Brine treatment and circular optimisation of waste effluent and critical materials.
- Developing materials and coatings to enhance the mechanical performance of tools (abrasion, friction).
- Mining and industrial process digitalisation for enhanced management.
- Using drones/AGVs for monitoring, logistics, infrastructure inspection.
Waste
- Advanced waste laboratory services (characterisation and composition of industrial, nuclear, municipal and complex waste).
- Strategies for preventing, minimising and reducing waste generation.
- Assessing and developing waste management and treatment technologies and channels. Waste separation, extraction and concentration processes: physical, chemical and thermal.
- Technical assessment of technologies for managing complex waste: ashes, slag, plastics, composites, textiles, metals, batteries, WEEE, etc.
- Plastics circularity: biodegradability, bioplastics and compostability.
- Developing technologies to recover energy and materials from by-products and waste: pyrolysis, gasification, H2 production.
- Waste stabilisation: disposal and confinement.
- Implementing strategies for decarbonisation, capture and use of CO₂.
- Industrial symbiosis, using third-party waste resources and closing industrial cycles.
Water
- Advanced water laboratory services such as microbiological analysis, trace metals, emerging pollutants and virus detection (SARS-COV2).
- Modelling and simulating physical, chemical and thermodynamic processes.
- Defining, optimising and validating physical, chemical and biological treatments in the water cycle: technologies for separation, ion exchange, disinfection. (chlorine, ultraviolet and new disinfectants), sedimentation, precipitation, crystallisation, ultra-filtration, treatment using algae and/or fungi, etc.
- Pilot plants for pre-industrial scale assessment.
- Defining, optimising and validating desalination processes.
- Treating complex effluents and recovering nutrients and value-added compost: brines, leachate, sludge, slurry, etc.
- Water reuse technologies.
- Technologies for producing green hydrogen by electrolysis.
- Assessing the potential to regenerate and reuse membranes.
- Artificial intelligence and optimisation in decision-making: predictive maintenance, water quality forecasting, anomaly detection.
- Water cycle data architecture and interoperability by integrating water information (semantic hub/middleware).
- Smart platforms and digital twins in water and natural resource processes.
- Developing virtual sensors and inexpensive printed sensors to determine complex water cycle parameters (soft sensing).
Contaminated soil, sediment and groundwater
- Contaminated site sampling and characterisation
- Monitoring, modelling and mobility studies of pollutants in soils and aquifers
- Assessing the feasibility of treating pollutants in soil, groundwater and sediment through a range of treatments (physical, chemical and/or biological) using fungi, microorganisms, nanoparticles, etc.
- Field testing, validation and optimisation of soil, groundwater and sediment treatment technologies (diffuse and point source)
- Soil data and imagery processing: geo-referenced databases, satellite imagery
- Support for Chemical Risk Assessment (CRA) in human health and ecosystems
- Support in industrial risk and major accident assessments
- Baseline risk framework studies: bioavailability of metals
Forest products: wood, biomass and cork
- Bioeconomy and bioenergy strategy planning
- Developing technologies for using wood, biomass, cork and other forest products
- Assessing processes for producing biofuels, bioplastics and/or other products of high interest (biochar, bio-oil, natural resins, etc.)
- Studies on gasification and pyrolysis of forestry by-products
- Optimisation and logistics of forest product gathering, transport and handling processes
- Geographic information systems (GIS) and satellite imagery for biotic natural resource estimation
- Developing new products from wood, plant remains and cork
- Environmental and social impact assessment of forestry and biomass activities and developing solutions for sustainable natural resource management
Air pollution
- Characterisation and sampling of atmospheric emissions and gaseous streams
- Monitoring air pollutants
- Air modelling and simulation: outdoor & indoor air flows
- Managing odour incidents in industry, waste plants and WWTPs
- Study of technologies for treating pollutant emissions and industrial effluents in the gaseous state
- Technical studies of gaseous pollutants: dioxins, furans, VOCs, etc.
- Implementing strategies for decarbonisation, capture and use of CO₂
Cross-Cutting Services
Technological innovation consultancy and sector training
- Technology watch, sector trend antennae and competitive intelligence.
- Innovation strategy: Lean management, Industry 4.0 roadmaps, circular economy roadmap.
- Intellectual/industrial property studies.
- Specialised training: Industry 4.0, circular economy, robotics.
Sustainability assessment and metrics
- Technical, financial and environmental feasibility studies for developing and bringing to market new materials, products and processes.
- Sustainability metrics: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), carbon footprint, water footprint, Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), social and economic analysis.
- Ecodesign of products and processes.
Industrial automation and/or robotisation for inspection
- Autonomous robots and drones for monitoring and inspecting infrastructures: sewage systems, power plants, distribution grids, etc.
- Integration of advanced solutions for industrial task automation: machining, polishing, boring, handling, human-robot collaboration.
Industry 4.0, data and artificial intelligence
- Smart platforms for sensor and data control
- Data architecture: information system cross-referencing and analytics for decision-making
- Determining complex parameters using virtual sensors (soft sensing)
- Integration and communication of information with management systems (semantic hub/middleware
Cibersecurity
- Secure information exchange through information integrity (digital smart contracts) and blockchain
- Digital security solutions for equipment, facilities and devices
- Critical infrastructure cyber-physical threat monitoring system
Contact
Jesús Boschmonart
Team leader
Helping companies to transition to the Circular Economy. Degree in Environmental Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Master in Environmental Studies (UAB) and Doctorate in Environmental Science and Technology (UAB).
- Tel. +34 682 93 01 94
- jesus.boschmonart[at]eurecat.org
Facilities
Outstanding projects
Preventomics
Setting up the wastewater analytical surveillance platform.The goal is to monitor genetic traces of the SARS-COV-2 virus in Catalan wastewater treatment plants to control its concentration in towns and thus implement preventive measures to curb its spread.
Demoware
Developing innovative solutions to get fresh water. Eurecat is engaged in advanced research to desalinate water while minimising energy use and cutting costs and environmental impact. The purpose is to provide alternatives to reverse osmosis, the method currently used globally.
Diamond
Developing a recycling process which generates zero waste. The project seeks to build a glass recycling process which minimises waste while increasing its sustainability. The research will specifically target two potential strategies for lessening environmental impact.
Preventomics
Compiling innovative multi-sector solutions to address future climate change challenges. The study includes 127 innovative solutions covering water, agriculture and livestock, health, town planning and building, early warning, biodiversity and natural heritage, industry and services, transport and mobility, finance and insurance, tourism and cultural heritage.
