Advancing Sustainability of Process Industries through Digital and Circular Water Use Innovations

ended

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 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’s innovations emanate from the requirements of the Case Studies, involving industrial actors (Dow, BASF, Water-Link, Solvay, ARETUSA, Agricola, and TUPRAS) in 5 EU countries (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Romania) and 1 associated country (Turkey). 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.