Sorigué has completed its participation in the European project IntelWATT for the generation of energy and distilled water from wastewater. Its contribution to the project has consisted of the engineering, construction and operation of a pilot plant where different technologies have been tested at a demonstrative scale in the brine collector of Castellgalí, Barcelona.

The pilot plant is the installation with the largest budget and scale set up so far by Sorigué’s Innovation Department and the one that has required the greatest design and engineering effort.

The installation, which was in operation for six months, included four processes that worked in an integrated manner and treated 100 m³ of wastewater per day, a volume much higher than other similar installations, which has made it possible to validate these technologies in an environment closer to reality.

Within the project, several technologies have been tested with very promising results, among which the following stand out: ultrafiltration, which removes turbidity from the water; reverse electrodialysis, which has demonstrated its effectiveness in the production of kilowatts; and membrane distillation, which, with the help of a solar thermal collector, causes evaporation and condensation to deliver clean and reusable water.

Circular process

In the brine collector of Castellgalí, flows from various industrial processes with different salinity percentages have converged.

The project has been conceived as a circular economy process: an ultrafiltration system with membranes captured the brine water and removed dirt particles. Subsequently, a reverse electrodialysis process was responsible for the production of energy from the free circulation of electrons. This process has made it possible to generate up to 3 megajoules per cubic metre of treated water.

After this process, the effluent passed to a membrane distillation driven by solar thermal energy. The water was evaporated and condensed to obtain high-quality desalinated water, applicable in agricultural or industrial installations.

Innovation in the water cycle

The Castellgalí pilot plant has formed part of the intelWATT project, funded by the European Union and in which private companies, universities and research centres from seven countries have participated.

The purpose of the project was to seek innovative, cost-effective and smart solutions to recover water from industrial processes, taking advantage of its potential in energy production and resource recovery.

Sorigué has extensive experience in innovation projects in the water cycle that promote decarbonisation and the transition towards a circular economy model.

Through innovation in different areas of the group’s business, Sorigué positions itself as a transformative agent that provides value-added solutions with a positive impact on the environment.