From the beginning of the project, > 40 different potential NP suspensions have been synthesized, tested, and characterized. These NPs are tested to meet the criteria for a successful application: they should form a stable suspension in liquid, be small enough to pass through the pores in soil, and provide a large surface area to adsorb heavy metal contaminations. In addition, Reground NPs shall contain no additional toxic elements. Also, we ensured that each NP production process can be performed at industrial-scale and yet meeting the above-mentioned criteria. This up-scaling process is a central focus of Reground technology, because one may produce such NPs with pure, analytical-grade materials in laboratory, but producing several tons of such particles with industrial-grade materials and yet fulfilling the above criteria with low, competitive price is a difficult task. Reground has successfully produced such environmental-friendly particles with industrial-grade materials.
In order to ensure their applicability to each environment, each potential Reground NP suspension was going through a set of laboratory tests. These tests examine the stability, mobility, reactivity, and safety of NPs using materials taken from target aquifers. Briefly, in stability tests, we measured the sedimentation time of NPs in contact with tap water and with groundwater from the aquifer. Therefore, one can avoid injection of unstable suspension that may clog the pore space. Mobility tests provide us with prediction of effective radius of influence (ROI) around well. In reactivity tests, we measured the adsorption of heavy metals to NPs in both batch and column to determine the amount of nanomaterials to be produced and injected to the aquifer according to the remediation target. Additionally, the effect of Reground NPs on living organisms was tested before application to the field. For example, we investigated the ecotoxicity of our NPs to terrestrial and aquatic organisms and found that Reground NPs are of low toxicity in the organisms tested in vivo and in the in vitro assays included in this project.
Another key focus on Reground is the first-time application in full field-scale. During the project, we tested our technology in four different countries. In Spain and in Portugal, two contaminated aquifers were treated using our nanoparticles. In each of these sites, after a pilot study, where the technical design of the injection equipment and NP migration were tested, a large-scale remediation application was carried out. In each aquifer ca. 100 cubic meters of optimized NP suspension were injected. Up to six months monitoring in these contaminated sites proved that the defined remediation goal was successfully achieved. We also applied out technology in Iran, where geogenic Arsenic contaminated an aquifer, and in Germany, where our technology was applied directly on an active industrial site.
Along with application in the field, Reground focused on market implementation of the technology. To this aim, in course of the project we promoted Reground using dissemination tools to public boards and other stakeholders. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was prepared to evaluate the potential environmental impacts and benefits of the technology. The LCA quantifies many indicators such as global warming potential and energy demand, and provides additional material for the promotion of REGROUND, as well as for regulatory compliance. Finally, we performed market assessments, and compiled a business plan for the spin-off company. The consortium has taken additional actions in order to familiarize the coordination team with the basics of entrepreneurship and business development. The coordination team of REGROUND has been selected to participate in two accelerator programs for startups, of which they successfully graduated.
