Project number: FV40126
Project title: Advanced sorbents for the separation of microplastics and micropollutants from water
Grant provider: Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic
Project coordinator: Dekonta a.s.
Project partners: CZU - Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Pražské vodovody a kanalizace a.s., Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the CAS
Project schedule: 7/2019 - 12/2022
Principal CZU researcher: Ing. Lenka Wimmerová, Ph.D.
Total CZU budget: 2 310 000 CZK
Project goal
The aim of the project is the preparation and verification of new advanced sorbents types allowing the removal of microplastics from water and specific micropollutants bound to them.
Abstract
The study of the presence of microplastics is a matter of intense interest because it turns out that they have a negative impact on the human population and its activities. Because microplastics are found in most types of water, and the technology for their removal is completely missing or its functionality has not been verified on a pilot scale, industrial research in this area needs to be intensified.
Part of this project is the design, assembly, and verification of the technological structure of separators filled with a new type of advanced sorption material, both in the laboratory and on an enlarged, pilot scale, which will allow their use for various types of contaminated water in industry.
The result of the project should be a proposal for the assembly of complex apparatuses ensuring microplastic retention and continuous decomposition of micropollutants in a joint arrangement, including the design of proven technology, utility model implementation, and functional sample testing of an advanced sorbent in apparatuses with different flow rates of contaminated water in the real industrial environment.
CZU role in the project
The Department of Applied Ecology, FES CZU in Prague is participating in the verification of existing analytical methods for the detection of microplastics and accompanying micropollutants, performing selected toxicity and ecotoxicity tests in the aquatic environment, and performing column tests of decontamination of industrial waters in a laboratory setting. In the project, it is also simultaneously implementing risk assessment (HQ - Hazard Quotient) and impact trace (LCA - Life Cycle Assessment) of microplastics and micropollutants, and is participating in the preparation of all project results.