Project NANOZONE – Nano-Encapsulated Ozone for Wastewater Treatment in the Surface Treatment Industry

ULTRAAQUA is involved in a new project together with a selection of leading companies in the sector, to develop an ozone solution for treating wastewater in the surface treatment industry.

Project NANOZONE is a European project under Eurostars 3, supported by Innovation Fund Denmark, and CDTI in Spain – with a budget of more than 1 million EUR, running for two and a half years.

The partners of the project are:

• Chemplate Materials SL (Coordinator)
• WIT Water Solutions
• ULTRAAQUA A/S
• CIDETEC Surface Engineering

The selected companies include leading competencies in areas such as surface treatment, and purification and pollution management processes in industrial waters.

The main objective of the NANOZONE project is to develop the use of nano-encapsulated ozone for wastewater treatment in the surface treatment industry, and the necessary tools to help wastewater treatment plant installers and end-users in the design, set up, and use of these facilities.

The surface treatment industry generates wastewater with heavy metals and persistent organic compounds which are not effectively removed by conventional wastewater treatment. The organic compounds act as complexing agents that prevent metals removal. 50% of harmful industrial wastes come from the surface treatment industry, which has made the industry subject to a progressive tightening of regulations.

Nano-encapsulated ozone has shown high breakdown efficiency of organic and other difficult oxidable compounds, such as cyanides, in wastewaters produced by agribusiness and with significant potential in the surface treatment industry.

The solution will be adapted and validated for removing/neutralizing the most problematic compounds in surface treatment industry wastewaters: rinse waters of degreasing and cyanides and organic amines containing electrolytes.

CHEMPLATE as the instigator of the project and inventor of the nano-ozone technology will be selling the nano-ozone encapsulation devices.

ULTRAAQUA and WIT will be responsible for adapting existing surface industry wastewater treatment plants and setting up new ones, with the nano-ozone encapsulation device as well as providing maintenance services in plants, consultancy, and training services for loyal customers who need support in the daily management of the wastewater treatment plant(s), and who could need training sessions for their workers.

ULTRAAQUA will further be providing engineering services related to simulation use to optimize the wastewater treatment application method.