Between hydrogen and sewage treatment plant: What impulses does Filtech provide in terms of sustainability?

Low-carbon and circular – with this vision, researchers are setting about getting the wastewater management and hydrogen supply of the future on track. There were first impressions at Filtech 2023...

New water technologies are being tested in practice in the test container in the Bitterfeld-Wolfen community sewage treatment plant.

Filtech does not just want to be a trade fair: With a scientific accompanying program, the meeting of separation technology specialists also gives international universities, research institutions and companies a stage. And in 2023 it will be greener than ever: The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS (Fraunhofer IKTS) showed the importance of filtration and separation for the green transformation of industry.

For this purpose, a test and innovation platform for the treatment of industrial waste water was founded together with partner institutes , in the context of which innovative water treatment technologies and forward-looking closed loop concepts for water use are tested in a practical manner.

The platform on the premises of the Bitterfeld-Wolfen community sewage treatment plant includes several test containers and flexibly usable test systems for the development, testing and transfer of new technologies for desalination of water, for the recovery of process chemicals and raw materials as well as water from complex industrial wastewater.

There is also a need for solutions for the filtration and separation of all types of media when it comes to the mega-topic of hydrogen : IKTS researchers presented a technology based on carbon membranes that can be used to efficiently separate hydrogen and natural gas.

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The membrane technology makes it possible to conduct the two substances together through the natural gas network and to separate them from each other at the destination as required. Due to their high stability, the carbon membranes are also suitable for separating carbon dioxide from industrial gases, even at high temperatures.