Project Partners

Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas - Plataforma Solar de Almería

http://www.ciemat.es
http://www.psa.es

The Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT) is a Public Spanish Organism owned by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Its work deals with the research and technological development on energy (including Renewable Energies) and environmental related subjects. CIEMAT has six departments, five of them are for research and development and an additional one devoted to the study of future uses of the energy. CIEMAT objectives are the promotion and execution of technological R&D projects in the areas of energy and environment and to advise national authorities in strategic issues related with energy and environment.

One of CIEMAT's departments is Renewable Energies (DER) where different R+D programmes are carried out. The Solar Energy Programme of CIEMAT includes the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) as main national research center. Formally considered as a European Large Scientific Installation, the Plataforma Solar de Almería is also the largest European Laboratory for solar energy applications. The PSA participates actively in demonstrative applications of different solar technologies, at national and international levels, with the main objective to improve the technology cost and efficiency and make possible the efficient collection of solar energy for electricity production, development of chemical applications, development and testing of materials under extreme conditions, desalination, bioclimatic applications, etc.

The Solar Chemistry project of CIEMAT has developed studies in depth about Solar Detoxification, this means, the use of solar photons to chemically destroy toxic compounds present in waste waters using photocatalytic processes with TiO₂ or Photo-Fenton.

ECOSYSTEM Environmental Services S.A.

ecosystem@retemail.es

The company Ecosystem Environmental Services S.A. is a small and flexible Spanish Engineering and Consulting firm located in Barcelona. Its work is focused in researching and developing new treatment technologies and erecting hazardous waste treatment plants for specific problems of contamination demanded by customers. Specific business activity areas of the company are: contaminated soil remediation, hazardous waste treatments, innovative technologies for wastewater treatment, waste recycling and minimisation, education, public administration and private companies advisement. The design of that kind of plants normally includes chemical, mechanical, environmental, legal, automation and control issues. The company is also currently working in the development of new techniques for treating, recycling and minimising chemical and pharmaceutical wastewater and recovering of contaminated groundwater.

Ecosystem is an engineering firm owning a strong practical vocation. The company posses its own research laboratory to develop new processes for “tailor–made” solutions or new applications of company technology. Ecosystem also manufactures specific control and automation equipment for these new processes. Besides the small size of the company, Ecosystem has a significant research background. The company has recently developed and patented an own technology to the treatment of fly ashes from solid urban residues incinerators. The company has also developed, within other different research activities, a specific industrial colorimeter and an UV-A solar radiometer. The company has also a relevant experience with scientific R&D projects founded by the European Commission and other public Spanish Institutions.

AO SOL Energias Renováveis, Lda.

http://www.aosol.pt

AOSOL - ENERGIAS RENOVÁVEIS Lda, is a private Portuguese company, located near Lisbon, manufacturer of solar energy collectors of the non-evacuated compound parabolic concentrator type with applications in water heating, heating and cooling of buildings and steam production for industry. The technology was awarded with a national price within the National Program for new industrial ideas sponsored by the Portuguese Government. AO SOL was created in 1998 to be a manufacturer of CPC solar concentrators. These are stationary and have low cost, with the same ease of installation as conventional flat plates, but with higher thermal performance. At present AO SOL is owned by GALP POWER, member of the holding GALP ENERGIA, the Portuguese Oil and Gas Group, to develop solar thermal use in Portugal. This recent (June2000) strategic decision of GALP to purchase AO SOL establishes a new and very important phase for both companies and for the development of Solar Energy in Portugal. It has already allowed AO SOL to install itself in a new and much larger production facility in a 3500 m² building belonging to GALP. It has 20 employees, including administration, manufacture, engineering and commercial departments.

AO SOL is the only manufacturer of non -evacuated CPC collectors in Europe. This technology shows the greatest promise for the objectives of the project, since specific solar photons can be collected and delivered with the highest efficiency, at a low cost to make viable the final cost of the system.

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

http://www.uab.es

The UAB is a public Spanish University consisting of 11 faculties and 2 university schools, with 10 schools and 4 centres depending on other institutions also affiliated. All these centres together award a total of 61 different qualifications plus a total of 70 doctoral programs and other postgraduate programs. UAB is a pioneering institution in terms of fostering research. In recent years great efforts have been made to set-up on-campus research institutes and centres to complement the research tasks already being conducted in the forty-six departments in the experimental, life, social and human sciences, such as the Centre Nacional de Microelectronica or the Institut de Física d’Altes Energies. The UAB is actively participating in the Communitary initiatives on co-operation, mobility and research, and has established firm links research centres abroad, specially within the UE.

The work within this project will be carried out at the Department of Chemistry of UAB. The UAB-group has a wide expertise in environmental heterogeneous photocatalysis, concretely in the investigation of the nature and mechanisms of degradative processes in aqueous and gas-phase. Mainly, the subject of research is focussed on the establishment of the kinetics and mechanisms of the oxidative degradation of organic contaminants; in this way, the UAB-group has been developing an intensive work in analytical procedures directed to the detection of reaction intermediates. In addition, the UAB-group is working in the improvement of the efficiency of the degradation processes by using certain compounds in the aqueous phase that participate in conjunction with the photocatalyst in the degradation of the contaminants. Particularly, the UAB-group attention focuses on photo-Fenton processes by using Fe(II) and H₂O₂, and also on ozone.

Instituto Nacional de Engenharia e Tecnologia Industrial (INETI)

http://www.ineti.pt

INETI is a R,D&D institution, belonging to the Ministry of Economy of Portugal, with the specific task of bridging over, in scientific terms, to Industry in all areas of engineering and technology. It is divided into several Departments, covering wide areas of activity like Materials Science, Information and Electronics, Non Nuclear Energy, Environment, Biotechnology and Chemistry. The existing guidelines for R&D activities within INETI are to contribute for the reduction and diversification of energy sources, given the historical dependency of Portugal from a preponderant source of energy (oil) and to increment connections between the Institute, the Industry and other institutions of the UE, in order to overcome old barriers and to provide adequate answers to the present and future problems of Industry. The present project follows that strategy, giving the possibility to participate actively in the development of a new technology, environmental benign and with a very promising future.

The Renewable Energies Department (DER, Departamento de Energias Renováveis), has about 60 people and many years of R&D experience in the following areas: Solar Energy, Bio Energy, Wind Energy and Wave Energy. Researchers from the two first areas will be directly involved in the present project. The Active Solar Systems group dedicated to several subjects in the thermal and photovoltaic applications of Solar Energy, covering the low, medium and high temperature applications. Some examples of these applications are: solar drying, greenhouse heating, solar ponds, low concentration non-imaging CPC type optics, solar collectors and solar systems testing, radiation statistics and design of solar systems, second stage concentrators, water pumping, electricity storage, illumination, etc. Solar detoxification has been also studied during the last decade as a promising area for the CPC type collectors technology, as it has been shown in SOLARDETOX project (EU BRPR-CT97-0424).

TRAILIGAZ

http://www.trailigaz.fr

Trailigaz’s origins go back to the end of the 19th Century, founded by Marius-Paul OTTO, the forerunner and producer of the first industrial ozone installations. Trailigaz is a French company manufacturer of Ozone, UV and Chlorination system to water treatment in municipal and industrial markets. Trailigaz is the subsidiary of Vivendi Water, a branch of Vivendi Environment, the N° 1 provider of environmental services to municipal and industrial clients in the world. Trailigaz (its laboratories together with the Maisons Laffitte Research Centre) carries out tests and advises its customers, on drinking water treatment or bleaching pulp. These laboratory tests can be followed by on site pilot plant testing.

With a permanent engineering capability of more than 60 experienced engineers and technicians, Trailigaz offers the certainty of being able to accomplish, in the shortest delivery time, and with the greatest professionalism, all the engineering required to execute a « turn key » contract. Trailigaz’s ability to cooperate with local industries, practised in numerous countries, and the flexibility/adaptability of its erection and start up teams enables it to work within the most demanding execution programs.

2,600 installations, in 68 countries, on 5 continents. 80% of the world’s capitals or the largest major cities requiring ozone are equipped with Trailigaz ozonation plants.

JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICA N. V.

http://www.janssenpharmaceutica.be

JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICA was founded in 1953 under the direction of Dr. Paul Janssen and joined the JOHNSON & JOHNSON family of companies in 1961. JANSSEN is active in a variety of important areas of medicine, having developed 78 registered new drugs. The company employs about 15.000 people world-wide and their products have found important applications in human and veterinary medicine as well as in plant protection and material protection. Research is of strategic importance to the company and different research centres are located in Belgium, Germany, England, France, Spain and the United States. JANSSEN has production of chemicals and pharmaceuticals in 11 countries and there are affiliates in 36 countries.
The Plant and Material Protection Division is an important part of JANSSEN company and will be the one directly involved within the present project. This division is very active in the development and commercialisation of agrochemicals products for different purposes, being the main supplier of active ingredients in specific fields, such as the post harvest treatment of fresh commodities. The present project fits perfectly within the company policy to introduce “Sustainability Performance Assessment” principles in the application fields covered by the agrochemical products manufactured by JANSSEN. In addition, it is expected that the company could be an important contribution to the Project Consortium, due to its considerable know-how and competence in the field.

École PolyTechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (LBE-EPFL)

http://www.epfl.ch

The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), is an academic university organisation belonging to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, with 4,500 students including PhD students and postdoctoral courses and 3,500 full time positions (scientists + administration).

In EPFL, the LABORATOIRE DE BIOTECHNOLOGIE ENVIRONNEMENTALE (LBE) develop teaching and applied researches in the field of biological engineering related to the elimination and valorisation of organic wastes and to the environmental protection with respect to pollution. Main researches concern improvement of biological reactions involved in the treatment of wastewater, sewage sludge, household waste and organic industrial effluents with the aim of recovering useful by-products and energy. LBE researches principally concern the field of environmental biotechnology with emphasis on the biological treatment of industrial effluents by free and immobilised biomass. This includes the following aspects: i) selection, adaptation enrichment and stabilisation of mixed bacterial populations able to degrade target xenobiotic compounds in industrial effluents. Study of the metabolic behaviour and kinetics of these selected consortia in controlled CSTR and packed bed bio film reactors in order to validate their rational exploitation; ii) coupling physico-chemical (electrochemistry, photochemistry) and biological processes to degrade recalcitrant pollutant. This group is active in the development of pre-treatment (photochemistry, electrochemistry…) that reduce the toxicity of the substances in water and allows the pre-treated water to be treated by a subsequent biological (low cost) process.

DSM-DERETIL

http://www.dsm.com/deretil/

DSM Deretil is part of the DSM NC chemical company through its DSM Anti-infective business group. DSM Deretil is actively present worldwide with long experience in the market and a strong customer focus orientation. DSM Deretil’s products, generically called side chains, are based on derivatives of three D-amino acids (phenylglycine, parahydroxyphenylglycine and dihydro-phenylglycine) that are used for the manufacture of semisynthetic penicilins and cephalosporins. Production and growth have been specially healthy over the past ten years, and since the mid-nineties DSM Deretil has become a key side chain supplier to many of the world’s leading antibiotics and generic producers including Antibioticos, Biochemie, BMS, Dobfar, Eli Lilly, Teva and SB.

Presently, DSM Deretil is the world leader for these products. DSM Deretil has a total production capacity of more than 20.000 tons per year and annual sales of EUR 130 million. The head office is in Barcelona (Spain), and it has production sites in Almería (Spain), the Netherlands, Italy and India. The main production site of DSM Deretil is located at Almería, in the south of Spain. This site manufactures more than 70% of total DSM Deretil production and employs around 280 people. The DSM Deretil R&D activities are mainly carried out in the DSM Deretil Research Institute. The Institute is located in the Almería site and employs 25 people.

DSM Deretil is doing a big effort in R&D, to continuously improve the competitiveness of its production processes, in order to maintain its leading position in the market. Specially important is the biotechnological manufacture of parahydroxyphenylglycine, the side chain of the antibiotic amoxicillin. The enzymatic production is giving a technological advantage to DSM Deretil and the company has different projects aimed to improve this process even more. Besides the R&D activities related with the existing processes, DSM Deretil is developing processes for several new products. Some of them are related with a new approach to the manufacture of antibiotics based on enzymes. This alternative synthesis is less aggressive with the environment, but requires new side chains.