As part of the pharmIn2 project, representatives from the Bavarian-Indian Center for Industry and Higher Education (BayIND) and the Institute for Sustainable Water Systems (inwa) at Hof University of Applied Sciences traveled to India. The project aims to adapt the innovative wastewater treatment technology called a3op®, which was developed by the Bavarian company up2e! for the treatment of heavily polluted industrial wastewater, to the Indian market. As part of the project, the technology is to be used for the purification of pharmaceutical industrial wastewater in India.
Using wastewater samples from a large South Indian pharmaceutical company, work began in parallel on piloting the planned plant, which was exported to India by up2e! at the beginning of the year. The new technology could make an important contribution to achieving the United Nations’ sustainability goals in India with regard to the protection of water resources.
Successful pilot projects
Technical engineers from Germany supervised the online piloting. Representatives from BayIND and inwa of Hof University of Applied Sciences were also present to witness the important milestone. The pilot will be used to adapt the technology to the conditions of the Indian market based on the test results. The pilot plant now installed in Hyderabad is currently housed in a container. It is supplied as a pre-tested and ready-to-operate unit. This makes retrofitting or new installations not only simple, but also extremely time-saving. Ambient pressure and temperature ensure safe, reliable and easy-to-control operation.
Innovative technology
Project manager Prof. Günter Müller-Czygan comments: “The a3op® process provides a treatment technology for reducing trace substances such as drug residues that can be used efficiently and flexibly at the point of wastewater generation and can largely avoid expensive centralized treatment in a municipal wastewater treatment plant.” The first laboratory results are already available. The pilot project has delivered very good results in terms of COD reduction. However, as this is a pilot plant, various studies need to be carried out under different conditions in order to analyze which could deliver the best results in the shortest time and at an ecologically acceptable price. This will still take about 1-2 months.
It was delivered as a pre-tested and ready-to-operate unit; Image: Hof University of Applied Sciences;
Important cooperations
Significant progress was also made during the trip in terms of expanding existing relationships with India and extending networks with representatives from industry, public institutions and universities. The representatives of BayIND and inwa of Hof University of Applied Sciences met with representatives of major universities and academic institutions in Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad in order to expand cooperation. The main discussion partners were experts from the fields of environmental pollution, biosciences, environmental protection and sustainability. They suggested contacts with large pharmaceutical companies, joint sewage treatment plants and relevant associations that could be interested in exporting the innovative technology. They also discussed strategies for raising the project’s profile on the Indian market. The project was presented at the IFAT trade fair in Munich in May of this year.
Learning platform launched
Further discussions in India focused on innovative technologies to combat environmental pollution in the wastewater sector and on sustainable industrial processes. Students from these universities were also recruited to participate in a learning platform developed as part of the project. The learning platform serves as a hub for knowledge transfer and highlights the project, the technology, how it works and its benefits. The recruitment of students for the learning platform was an important milestone in the pharmIn2 project, as their feedback will be used to optimize the learning platform.
Funding
The pharmIn2 projectis funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) as part of the Export Initiative for Environmental Protection (EXI) program.
