SOLAR TREATMENT OF WATER UNIT

The unit of Solar Treatment of Water (TSA in its Spanish acronym) was born in 2012, from the Environmental Applications of Solar Energy unit, as a consequence of the strategic plan of CIEMAT to encourage the research activities and applications of solar photochemistry carried out at Plataforma Solar de Almería. The main objective of this research is the use of solar energy for promoting photochemical processes in water at ambient temperature for treatment and purification applications. Research activities are focused on:

• Heterogeneous  and homogeneous (photo-Fenton) photocatalysis
• Solar disinfection
• Other water advanced processes: ozone, UV/H2O2, electrooxidation, membranes, biotreatment.

The main objective of the Research Unit is to apply this research in:

• Photocatalysts evaluation
• Industrial wastewater treatment
• Microcontaminants elimination
• Water Potabilization and disinfection
• Hydrogen production.
• Wastewater reuse in agriculture

TSA unit collaborates in national and international projects, valorizing the research via different goals:

• Patents.
• Communication of results in international journal with high IF
• Formation of researchers by PhD Thesis.
• Transfer of results to private sector by studies of viability and research contracts.

RESEARCHERS

• Dra. Isabel Oller Alberola. Advanced treatment of industrial and urban waste water (combination of biotreatment, membranes and advanced oxidation processes), recovery of added value substances.
• Dra. Inmaculada Polo López. Water disinfection by solar homogeneous and heterogeneous photocatalysis.
• Dr. Sixto Malato Rodríguez. Treatment plants. Solar photoreactors. Water contamination and natural degradation processes.
• Dra. Ana Ruiz-Delgado. Industrial wastewater advanced treatment (advanced oxidation processes and biological treatments combination), water disinfection and membrane technologies applied to nutrient recovery.
• Dra. María Jesús Abeledo-Lameiro. Water disinfection by Advanced Oxidation Processes.
• Dra. Samira Nahim Granados. Advanced water treatments for the simultaneous disinfection and decontamination of urban/industrial wastewater at pilot scale and the assessment of its subsequent agricultural reuse.
• Dra. Alba Ruiz-Aguirre. Solar Water Treatment based on membrane technologies and photocatalytic hydrogen production.
• Dra. Sara Miralles Cuevas. Treatment of urban/industrial wastewater at pilot plant scale by advanced oxidation processes and their combination with conventional treatments.

TSA UNIT, at March 2022 is composed by 13 persons: 8 PhD, 3 PhD students and 2 technicians.

Sixto Malato Rodríguez: Premio Jaime I a la Protección del Medio Ambiente