Breaking ground in the NWO Take-off 1 project
In recent months, CIWI has closely collaborated with TU Delft on a Take-off 1 project granted by the NWO. Additional research was conducted at the Waterlab to validate the business case for CIWI’s patented Electrochemical Metal Hydroxide technology. With the invaluable support of Julie and Dounia, two interns from France, we investigated both the (long-term) efficiency of the process and the dissolution limits of the steel electrodes. These parameters are crucial to the proposed business case, influencing operational and construction costs as well as the carbon footprint of CIWI’s technology. The business case incorporates a financial perspective, considering both market price and “true price,” including direct and indirect environmental costs.
Dounia performing jar-tests in the lab with the produced iron hydroxides by CIWI's system
Proces Efficiency
The efficiency of the process centers around two main questions. First, the (long-term) energy consumption is a key parameter that impacts both the cost and carbon footprint of the CIWI system. This parameter was tested over extended periods, some exceeding two weeks. The second question examines the electron-efficiency of iron production and the subsequent stability of the produced product. In electrochemistry, electron-efficiency reflects on the efficiency of the electrons that are fed to the system, resulting in a chemical reaction. Ideally, this value approaches 100%, but many studies on other technologies have shown that achieving this is very challenging.
Steel Electrode Dissolution
In CIWI’s process, steel electrodes (i.e., steel plates) gradually dissolve to produce the targeted metal hydroxides. However, previous research indicated that fully dissolving the steel plates can be challenging. In some instances, only 50% of the plate's weight was dissolved before unwanted side effects occurred. With CIWI’s technology, we aim to achieve significantly higher dissolution rates, which we are investigating in this study.
Preliminary Insights
While we are still in the process of gathering and analysing data, as well as assessing the business case and Life Cycle Assessment, preliminary results offer some interesting insights:
Energy consumption was as low as predicted and remained stable over extended periods.
The electron-efficiency of iron hydroxide production stayed above the desired levels.
Electrodes were dissolved to levels significantly higher than expected, positively impacting the business case
The outcomes of this research mark an important step toward the implementation of our technology, helping to define system boundaries and providing insights into best practices. We will keep you updated on the final outcomes!