TITLE:

BloW-uP. Balkans Waste to Products: transfer of NoI model to Balkan area: de-siloing new waste-derived raw materials and devel-oping new applications

DESCRIPTION:

The development of marketable products starting from waste (mining sludge and agro residues) has a clear positive impact on environment since it decrease amount of waste to be disposed. Moreover, in the case of agro-waste it could provide higher revenues, if compared to the traditional energy production by combustion. The scouting of innovative applications of waste-derived materials and the development of already identified products/applications will foster the development of new skills (innovative waste management processes; use of alternative materials in existing processes/products; etc.) by the personnel involved. The active involvement as project partners of FREECATS NoI members and new task partners both from CLC-South and ESEE having complementary expertise is, at the same time, a nice outreach of FREECATS NoI. The experience of NoI model will be shared with the new partners and will foster cross-fertilization and the implementation of new collaborations among partners. Moreover, the new links created or consolidated with countries of ESEE region will expand the pool of stakeholders, potential users, companies, etc., who all will be involved in KIC activities and will also widen the impact towards new markets, entrepreneurs, society. The project will raise awareness and knowledge for stakeholders on new applications and methods based on the exploitation of raw materials from waste. The project results are of great interest for industry and could be exploited further in future joint initiatives. The project implementation will set the foundations for a stronger involvement and collaboration across SMEs, universities and research centres, as well as will provide opportunities for a greater exploitation of the results of scientific research in industry. Four companies (Bracco Imaging, IT; ETS LIFE, IT; NBCSYSTEM S.r.l., IT; Valerus, BG) and the Lombardy Energy and Cleantech Cluster (IT), already signed endorsement letters for possible common actions for BloW-uP results valorization. Nanomaterials possess a great potential or have already found applications in several KETs and commercial product and found large number of applications in different fields ranging from FCH technologies to eco-industries and cleantech. Additives for lubricants. Trybological properties of the metal and their oxide nanoparticles became the subject of the research in recent years. Nanoparticles made of Cu, Fe and Co proved to be effective in decreasing the friction of the moving parts in the machines when added to the lubricants, with effectiveness ranging from 20 to 49%, according to newest findings (Padgurskas et al., Tribol. Int. 60, 2013). Morevover, most of the traditional additives (graphite, ZrO2, SiO2) particles are toxic or irritant if inhaled. In BloW-uP project biocompatible iron oxides (hematite or maghemite) will be developed as new lubrication additives. They offer numerous advantages, such as absence of irritant effects, lower cost (since they will be produced by remediated waste sludge). First experiments showed that this application is feasible and related technology already reached TRL3. In BloW-uP TRL will be increased up to 5-6 at least. Carbon based materials for FCs/Electrolyzers and Metal-Air batteries. Catalysts for PEMFC, both in acid and alkaline media can be produced using different non-doped and doped carbonaceous supports. This has enabled to increase the stability and durability of the catalysts and reduce or even eliminate the Pt load, maintaining or improving the performance of commercial catalysts. Among the carbon nanomaterials (CNM), carbon nanofibers (CNF) and doped-CNF present the best behavior. Recently, graphene oxide (GO), reduced GO (RGO) and GO and RGO doped with different heteroatoms and their composites with nanofibers have been applied as electrocatalyst in the Oxygen Reduction Reaction, ORR, Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction, HOR, Hydrogen Evolution Reaction, HER, and Oxygen Evolution Reaction, OER. All these materials present high performance, but they are expensive due to the complexity of production. The development of marketable products for electrodes starting from secondary raw materials derived from wastes would significantly reduce the cost.Materials for cleantech and eco industry. The role of secondary materials is becoming more and more important in unconventional areas such as catalysis and adsorption. The question is how much these materials need to be purified, concentrated and/or activated before their use. An ideal case would be the use of these waste materials or their mixtures as such or after simple mechanical, chemical, or biochemical treatments. Nanosized oxides are widely employed as catalysts by themselves or as supports for different catalytically active phases. Moreover when oxides behave as semiconductors, they are efficient photo-catalysts too. On the other hand, active carbons, also those derived from agro-waste, are widely used as sorbents, catalysts support and materials with advanced features. Depending on the application area and required pretreatment, sustainable solutions for various Cleantech and eco-industries areas can be found. Iron oxides can be utilized, e.g., in oxidation reactions in air pollution abatement (VOC oxidation), waste water treatment (photo-catalysts), in reforming and water-gas shift reaction (syngas and hydrogen production, valorization and purification of gas streams), and as a precipitation chemical e.g. in waste water treatment. For carbon-based materials the known application area is the use agro and other bio wastes as adsorption materials for e.g. waste water treatment. Another application area is to use them as support materials for catalysts and utilized in e.g. reforming reactions after impregnation of active transition metals such as Ni, Cu, and Co. This could mean even putting together two waste streams, mining sludge and waste carbon sources, enabling new innovative use of these waste materials opening possibilities for new markets and even new companies. Several other novel and innovative applications are possible.
 

DURATION:

2017/04/01 - 2019/03/31

FUNDING:

EIT Raw Materials

MORE: