Workplan

Management: The objective is to ensure the overall smooth coordination and management, ensuring progress in line with the budget and the schedule of milestones and deliverables. The work will also include the risk management and overall strategic project guidance while building and maintaining effective communication channels within the consortium.

Membrane Development: The objective is to establish preliminary material specifications, selection suitable cation and anion conductive base materials and finally to produce and test membrane samples.

Development of the membrane integrated spacer: The spacer material and the technique for integration of the spacer on the membranes will be selected. The objective is the characterization and optimization of the integrated membrane spacer in order to select the most suitable physical and chemical construction for the technology.

Electrochemical engineering and first generation lab-scale stack: First the redox couples and electrode materials to be used will be selected. Then based on the previous work and the simulation the first generation laboratory-stack will be designed and constructed. The first experiments for testing the stack will be performed and based on those the best couple of electrodes and redox couples will be selected.

Multi-scale modelling and process simulation: A multi-scale modelling approach will be developed able to perform the optimisation of stack geometry and operating conditions and a reliable sensitivity analysis of the process. This will be based on a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling of the spacer filled channels and modelling of the electrochemistry and transport phenomena inside a SGP-RE channel.

Lab-scale performance testing: Extensive testing of the laboratory stack will be performed in order to evaluate the effect of the hydraulic conditions and to study the effect of the real feed composition on the process. The effect of hydraulic conditions on the power density will be further evaluated on a larger laboratory stack. This will be also used to test the combination of this technology with the membrane distillation concept and the pre-treatment requirements of different brine inputs will be assessed.

Design, construction and testing of a prototype installation: A prototype unit of the developed technology will be designed, constructed and tested in the saline pond salt factory. This will allow proving the concept of the SGP-RE technology under real operating conditions using nearly saturated brine in combination with seawater. Additionally, other practical issues for guiding future R&D efforts will be identified.

Economic evaluation and analysis of perspectives: The current and post-development cost of the technology and the perspectives for the SGP-RE system will be studied, based on economics, technology and potential of the brine resources. The environmental impacts will be assessed as well.

Dissemination and exploitation of results: Basic information about the project activities will be spread among relevant stakeholders in order to gain support for the exploitation of the project results. Among others, promotional material, a web video and a road map for the technology commericalisation will be developed.