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ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY: WATER TECHNOLOGY
The research into technologies related to processes in the cycle of water such as desalinisation, obtention of potable water and drainage as well as the regeneration and reuse of water is becoming more and more important and necessary. In the case of Mediterranean countries, research is considered a priority because of their geographical and climatic context in which non conventional sources of water must be made fundamental to mitigate the effects of the lack of water. Fundació CTM Centre Tecnològic uses advanced techniques to improve the effectiveness of these processes and contribute to close the cycle of water. These techniques are based mainly on membrane technology as well as on ionic exchange resins and selective absorbents among others.
The lack of water makes it necessary for water to be obtained from non conventional sources; in other words, from sources which come from some sort of anthropogenic production different from the natural hydrological cycle's own sources. It is possible to obtain these resources through the application of membrane technology; mainly the desalinisation and regeneration of residual waters by means of the Membrane Bioreactors (BRM). Furthermore, membrane technology also makes it possible to greatly improve the quality of conventional water resources.
Fundació CTM Centre Tecnològic counts with the most advanced techniques for the characterisation of the membranes used in water treatment processes. For example, the joint use of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the anaylisis by Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) allows us to determine the characteristics of the layer that contaminates the surface of the membranes and propose modifications which will allow users and manufacturers to improve the output of present processes.
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