2012|13 Annual Report Fraunhofer IGB

29 FRAUNHOFER IGB INTERNATIONAL New EU projects The EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development constitutes the main instrument of European research funding, and supports the European Un- ion in its aim of becoming the “most dynamic and competitive economic region in the world”. Of interest to the Fraunhofer IGB are not only FP7 calls for research proposals in the the- matic programs Health, Environment, Energy, NMP (Nanotech, Materials, Processes) and the Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE), but also the calls speciﬁcally targeted at small and me- dium-sized enterprises. The Fraunhofer IGB also welcomed its ﬁrst Marie-Curie scholarship holder in 2012. REWAGEN In the REWAGEN project (Electrochemical WAter treatment system in the dairy industry with hydroGEN REcovery and electricity production), a European project consortium con- sisting of partners from research and industry and led by the Fraunhofer IGB is developing a multistage process for the efﬁ- cient electrochemical treatment of efﬂuents from the dairy in- dustry. The aim is to combine and integrate the individual pro- cess steps to form a closed system where each step delivers a stream of materials that can be further processed, recycled or reintroduced into the system. Thus the electrolytic treatment of water will yield hydrogen, which can be used to provide parts of the installation with electrical energy. The treated wa- ter can be reused directly as required. A modular construction allows the system to be adapted ﬂexibly to the quantities of efﬂuent at smaller dairies and milk-processing operations. www.rewagen.eu NAWADES The objective of the NAWADES project is to study, design, produce, and test a new membrane system for the desalina- tion of seawater. The technical concept is based on four devel- opments: 1. The ultra-membrane ﬁltration that usually precedes an os- mosis membrane stage can be integrated directly and com- pactly in a multi-layer membrane ﬁlter. 2. Formation of deposits (scaling and fouling) can be reduced by using plasma technology to treat the surfaces of the membranes. 3. Fouling through microbial growth can be prevented by in- tegrating titanium dioxide nanoﬁbers into the membrane in conjunction with the radiation of UV light through a glass fabric into the space between the membrane layers. 4. The state of the membranes can be monitored by applying a double-sided coating which functions capacitively. This is then analyzed. The new ﬁlter is designed to provide a self-cleaning, low- maintenance membrane ﬁltration system to be used in sea- water desalination processes. It is characterized by higher efﬁciency and longer lifetime, as well as reduced energy con- sumption as a result of reduced fouling leading to lower pres- sure. www.nawades.eu 1 1

2012|13 Annual Report Fraunhofer IGB

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