Eutectic Freeze Crystallization for Recovery of Pure Salts and Water

This project will combine key expertise to develop fundamental knowledge connected to eutectic freeze crystallization (EFC).

New approaches and methods based on fundamental principles and techniques developed in a broad field including pharmaceutical production and hydrometallurgy will be developed.

These will be applied to gain an increased understanding of nucleation, growth and impurity incorporation in the crystals, and how it affects the product.

EFC is expected to lead to more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable processes where water can be recycled and waste minimized.

This knowledge is of central importance for solving challenges, e.g. linked to waste incineration and bioenergy production.

System integration with EFC can provide new technological alternatives for sustainable solutions, of great importance in the development of future energy systems in smart cities.

Successful implementation of this technology will lead to increased resource recovery and waste minimization, thereby directly linking to the UN development goals to promote sustainable industrialization and access to clean water.

In order to achieve this, the technology needs to be improved through a better understanding of how controlled growth can be achieved and how incorporation of impurities can be avoided.

This project will also benefit from a new collaboration project between our research group and a group at the University of Cape Town, which is world leading in research on EFC.