Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NMRT (Using Nano-Magnetic Resonance to deliver the world’s most cost-efficient system for the treatment of toxic industrial and landfill wastewater)

Teaser

According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 30% of all diseases and 40% of deaths throughout the world are due to polluted water. The threat of polluted water is especially relevant in old landfills or land dumps in developing countries that have been built...

Summary

According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 30% of all diseases and 40% of deaths throughout the world are due to polluted water. The threat of polluted water is especially relevant in old landfills or land dumps in developing countries that have been built without any preventive environmental engineering, such as liners or leachate collection systems that are now required in all EU and US landfills. Moreover, despite increased recycling and recovery efforts, Eurostat reports that almost half of the waste created in the EU in 2015 still ended up in landfills.
Although this trend is in decline, adopting resource-efficient technologies can significantly contribute to water supply savings and sustainable management of water resources.

NMRT® is a patented unique technology which produces clean water by completely eliminate any elements that are harmful to the environment without the use of chemicals. Thus, ensuring that landfill leachate and industrial wastewater do not pollute natural water resources. As it is designed to address current leachate and industrial WasteWater Treatment deficiencies, NMRT is an add-on process, that can be retrofitted in any existing or new WWTP without the need of additional infrastructure or machinery.

Difficulties in reaching full compliance with EU water directives such as the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive include high investment needs, mobilisation of the necessary funding, long and complex procedures for creating new infrastructure and for improving existing ones. NMRT is an innovative electromagnetic resonance treatment that specifically targets the pollutants that need to be eliminated before the water can be reused for irrigation or groundwater discharge.

Work performed

During this 6 month project, our main objective was to evaluate some important aspects of the technological feasibility of our technology, especially in regards to our future scale-up.
For that purpose, we first assessed the miniaturization and industrial scalability of the NMRT®system while we prepared a detailed feasibility study to confirm the market viability of our solution and gather potential client feedback and willingness-to-buy.
In addition, we carried out several field tests with different wastewater producers (industry, landfills, hospitals, etc.) and drafted a cohesive work plan on how to best scale up production to answer market demand. Based on all the above we reviewed our business model and long term commercialization and pricing strategies.

Final results

Based on an idea that brought a Nobel Prize in Physics, our project aims at rolling to market a disruptive technology that leverages a new way to treat wastewater, producing inert flocculates as a byproduct. The current prototype has been successfully tested in different kinds of wastewater (winery, landfill, leachate, tannery and textile industries), with two valid independent laboratory analyses to confirm it.

With competitive installation, low maintenance, and energy costs and absolutely no need for chemicals, our project aligns completely with wastewater challenges identified by EU directives and legislation and H2020 objectives.

We emphasize the importance given to R&D, with a dedicated and very active department of experienced and responsible researchers. Focusing on the core business of water we stand out from our competitor\'s thanks to our exclusive patent exploitation rights and by offering solutions that can be used in a wide range of market segments.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.funcionalst.pt/.