EMBRACE

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Environmental biotechnologies designed to support the green transition and adaption to the principles of the circular economy – EMBRACE

Team Leader: Dr. Ing. Costel BUMBAC

Short description: The project contributes to the development of technological solutions based on natural processes and resources for environmental ecosystem services. The project aims at two different challenges, namely the treatment of wastewater from seasonal and/or decentralized sources, and the management of biodegradable organic waste in an intensive composting system that also uses residual heat from geothermal sources. The results of these studies have the potential to develop new technologies/products that could be exploited and transferred to the market (approximately 45% of the country’s population, mainly from rural areas, is not yet connected to adequate wastewater treatment systems; approximately 50% of the total quantity of municipal waste are represented by the biodegradable fraction). Experimental installations will be designed, built, tested and validated: a purification system based on natural processes – biological film and lumbrifiltration and a thermophilic composting installation that will use as a heat source the residual thermal energy of geothermal water – left over from current applications in the region (home heating, balneoclimatic applications), up to TRL 7 level – adaptation, optimization and validation of the functional prototype in relevant environmental conditions. Promotion activities of EMBRACE project results will address the full range of potential users and beneficiaries, through proactive actions and agreements for the dissemination, exploitation and management of intellectual property rights.

Phase 1/2023:

Scientific and technical report:

Study regarding the selection and characterization of decentralized sources of wastewater;
Biodegradable organic waste flow characterization study.

Phase 2/2023:

Scientific and technical report on:

Experimental model: installation for wastewater treatment from decentralized sources;
Experimental model: installation for intensive composting biodegradable organic waste.

Phase 3/2024

-Scientific and technical report on testing and validation of experimental model laboratory facility for wastewater treatment from decentralized or seasonal sources – part I

Phase 3/II/2024

Scientific and technical report on testing and validation of experimental model laboratory facility for wastewater treatment from decentralized or seasonal sources – part II

Phase 4/2024

Scientific and technical report on testing and validation of experimental model laboratory facility for composting Part I;

Phase 4/II/2024

Scientific and technical report on testing and validation of experimental model laboratory facility for composting Part II;

I. ISI-BDI Articles / Patents / Books

Elena Elisabeta Manea, Costel Bumbac, Sludge Composting—Is This a Viable Solution for Wastewater Sludge Management? Water, 2024, 16 (16), pp. 2241, FI 3, AIS 0,67, Q2, https://doi.org/10.3390/w16162241
Manea Elena Elisabeta, Bumbac Costel, Dinu Laurentiu Razvan, Bumbac Marius, Nicolescu Cristina Mihaela, Composting as a Sustainable Solution for Organic Solid Waste Management: Current Practices and Potential Improvements, Sustainability 2024, 16(15), 6329; FI 3,3, AIS 0,68, Q2, https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156329

II. Scientific manifestations

Elena Elisabeta Manea, Costel Bumbac, Advances in municipal organic fraction solid waste management, 27th International Symposium The Environment and The Industry, 19-20 September 2024, Constanta, Romania (oral presentation)
Costel Bumbac, Elena Elisabeta Manea, Vermifiltration as a potential solution for decentralized treatment of wastewater from sources with seasonal variation, 27th International Symposium The Environment and The Industry, 19-20 September 2024, Constanta, Romania
Elena Elisabeta Manea, Costel Bumbac, Assessing Mass Loss in The Composting Process of Municipal Organic Waste, International Conference on Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering (ICCBEE), Sintra, Portugal October 16 – 17, 2024 (oral presentation)
Costel Bumbac, Elena Elisabeta Manea, Valeriu Robert Badescu, Impact of Wastewater Distribution System on Vermifiltration Performance, International Conference on Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering (ICCBEE), Sintra, Portugal 16 – 17 October, 2024 (oral presentation)

III. Other promotion activities or knowledge base for research projects

Project won: Horizon Europe Program, call HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-07-01: Excellence hubs, Grant Agreement: 101184151, acronym WaterWise, title: The WATERWISE HUB: an excellence hub on water in the circular economy
Project won PNCDI IV – Challenges Program, Subprogram Centers of Excellence, PN-IV-P6-6.1-CoEx-2024-0056: Center of Excellence in Water Management, Valorization of Materials, By-products and Waste for the Implementation of the Circular Bioeconomy, acronym CERSUS
Project won PN-IV-P7-7.1-PTE-2024-0653: Development of polymer composites with reduced ecological footprint by incorporating residual biomass
COST international project proposal (OC 2024-1). Proposal ID 27495. Open cooperation and Knowledge for Circular Bio-based Industries
project proposal PN-IV-P7-7.1-PTE-2024-0706: Innovative solutions for decarbonizing the production process of thermoplastic elastomer composite materials

EMBRACE

Environmental biotechnologies designed to support the green transition and adaption to the principles of the circular economy – EMBRACE

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