Cleaner air, better use of waste – these are just some examples of areas where research and development investment can bring spectacular results. In this category we present innovative projects, implemented at the crossroads of science and business, which have a chance to change Polish industry forever and make it much more ecological.
Towards cleaner air
Global, EU and national regulations are steadily shifting towards more stringent standards for pollutant emissions. With the current state of the infrastructure, new BAT standards (the standard for determining emissions for larger industrial plants) may pose a challenge, especially with regard to sulphur emissions. Coal-fired power plants in particular are facing this problem.
This can be solved thanks to the innovative technology developed by RAFAKO S.A. and PGE GiEK S.A. consortium.It integrates several solutions so that existing systems work more effectively. These include the secondary atomisation of the absorption liquid or the introduction of special nozzles in the absorber walls.
The new technology is to increase the efficiency of the flue gas desulphurisation process without the costly construction of additional absorbers. Its recipients are to be coal-fired power plants from European Union countries.
Beneficiary: RAFAKO S.A.
Project: Low-cost development of a method to increase the efficiency of flue gas desulphurisation installations
Total project value: 11,65 mln PLN
EU contribution (Smart Growth Programme): 5,08 mln PLN
Lower mercury levels
Is it possible to reduce mercury emissions below the levels set by BAT in order to avoid the high investment costs associated with a major overhaul of existing flue gas cleaning systems? Apparently yes.
SBB Energy is working on an innovative solution, which has never been used in this configuration in the Polish or European energy sector. The new technology will be a hybrid of three methods of reducing mercury from exhaust gases. It will also reduce sulphur emissions.
The project includes a pilot installation at the Pątnów II Power Plant (member of the project consortium). It consists in ongoing monitoring of the composition of the emitted fumes and selection of optimal dimensions of the installation on a full scale.
Beneficiary: consortium SBB Energy S.A. and „Pątnów II Power Plant” Sp. z o.o.
Project: Hybrid absorption systems to reduce mercury emissions using highly efficient polymeric components
Total project value: 10,04 mln PLN
EU contribution (Smart Growth Programme): 6,3 mln PLN
Better use of waste
Recycling is one of the basic methods of protecting the natural environment and reducing the amount of waste produced in waste management. Metals, glass packaging, paper, plastic - we segregate these every day even in our homes. The whole problem is that there are different types of plastic. Some of its types, such as polyethylene/polypropylene (PE/PP), are easier to recycle. Others, such as polyethylene/polyamide blends (PE/PA), structural material used in various industries, are much more difficult to recycle.
The solution could be a new technology developed by specialists from the Polish company ML. The company is preparing to start production of a completely new product – a grate for hardening and soil stabilisation – made of such waste. What is important, this solution will not only be more ecological than the one used so far, but also cheaper, and the raw material used will have better mechanical properties.
Beneficiary: ML Sp. z o.o.
Project: Implementation of the technology of production of ground-stabilising gratings from hardly recyclable waste
Total project value: 8,77 mln PLN
EU Contribution (Smart Growth Programme): 6 mln PLN
Problematic chlorine
The world's energy consumption is steadily increasing, traditional raw materials are slowly becoming depleted.... The inevitable question is: what next? It turns out that millions of tons of valuable raw materials, which can be converted into alternative fuels and liquid and gaseous biofuels, and then used to produce electricity and heat, are at your fingertips. On.... landfills where unused biofuels are wasted.
Unfortunately, there are several obstacles to making greater use of them. One of them is the high level of chlorine emissions in the production of fuels from waste containing a lot of this element. Dr Izabela Stefanowicz-Pięta from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences is working on a solution to this problem. Her team is working on the creation of a special catalyst that will help reduce chlorine emissions. These devices will be prepared in cooperation not only with leading research centres, but also with representatives of the industrial sector.
Beneficiary: dr Izabela Stefanowicz-Pięta from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw
Project: Waste into fuel – catalyst and proces development for waste biomass valorization
Total project value: 800 000 PLN
EU contribution (Smart Growth Programme): 800 000 PLN
Tyres in support of vegetation
Is it at all possible for old car tyres to support vegetation? It turns out that it is! And all this thanks to VINDEREN, a company that produces innovative drainage plates. They are used to harden surfaces in road construction, but also to build green – plant – terraces. Innovative technology allows for easy settlement of vegetation, its better rooting, and also ensures that the necessary humidity is retained.
What old car tyres have to do with it? Well, the rubber layer in the plates is made of high quality rubber granulate, obtained from ... yes, precisely: from tyres.
The benefit will be twofold. The company benefits from an innovative offer to introduce a product unique in the international scale, and the natural environment – protection. The new technology also has a chance to become a developmental impulse and inspiration for the entire construction materials industry.
Beneficiary: VINDEREN Sp. z o.o.
Project: Implementation of the production of innovative drainage plates on the basis of fractionated granulate from car tyres
Total project value: 45,48 mln PLN
EU contribution (Smart Growth Programme): 19,95 mln PLN
Perennials are our only hope
They look inconspicuous, but they have extraordinary properties. Arabidopsis halleri is a delicate, blooming white perennial, which originates from mountainous areas, but has spread over time to mining heaps or mines, and thus to contaminated areas with a high concentration of heavy metals in the soil. How can it survive in such difficult conditions? Well, this plant is a hyper-accumulator – in its ground parts it can accumulate from 100 to even 500 times more heavy metals than other plants.
What made it create such an unprecedented feature? And how can it be used? These questions will be answered by a research team led by dr Alicja Babst-Kostecka from the Institute of Botany of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Scientists will use the latest techniques from various fields: ecology, biochemistry, physiology or genetics to investigate its properties. The results of the research will open the way for the use of Arabidopsis halleri in post-industrial areas. This gives hope to reduce the toxic and carcinogenic effects of heavy metals on our health.
Beneficiary: dr Alicja Babst-Kostecka from the Institute of Botany of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow
Project: Adaptation of Arabidopsis halleri to heavy metal-contaminated habitats: linking environmental, genomic and phenotypic contexts
Total project value: 879 000 PLN
EU contribution (Smart Growth Programme): 879 000 PLN