Briefing 2022

Initial situation

Water is the largest natural resource and the foundation of all life on earth. Always in motion it also provides mobility and energy – just consider the power of its name-giving ingredient, Hydrogen (H2).

Despite its abundance, only a small fraction of the water on Earth is actually usable for humanity. Safe drinking water is recognized as a basic human right.

In 2015, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs) were adopted by all United Nations Member States in an urgent call for action, aiming to create a better world by 2030. The 6th SDG is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

However, today the world is far from achieving Goal 6. The current rates of progress need to be at least doubled to meet the target by 2030, as 129 countries and territories are still not on track (source: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/goal-06/).

Two areas are essential to water sustainability: water quantity and water quality.

In 2021, over two billion(!) people did not have regular access to safe drinking water. The increase in the world's population and the steady rise in per capita water consumption, man-made environmental impacts, direct and indirect effects of the climate change, environmental disasters (e.g. Tonga, 2022), also the CoV-19 pandemic, and of course geopolitical dynamics will further accentuate this critical situation.

In the intensive global efforts that are being made to address this situation, researchers at TU Wien are developing technical solutions that may contribute to an improvement. 

For Industry meets Makers 2022, TU Wien has selected three projects that are open for collaboration. We invite the IMM community to jointly create innovative approaches and solutions and to explore together with us innovative new use cases or business models, that shall help bringing these developments to marketability. During the project duration, a concept, a design, an animation, a cooperation or business model, a prototype, a proof-of-concept, a production plan or similar should be developed.

In its measures to create impact on society TU Wien always strives to balance social responsibility and profitability. 

Challenge 1: Desalination Bike (TRL: 6-7)

TECHNOLOGY: Mounted on a bicycle and operated by muscle power, the mobile desalination unit for sea water and brackish water works with the same process used in industrial desalination plants. The small mobile desalination unit is a robust and low-cost solution for the drinking water supply in remote areas and areas lacking power supply. It can also be a life-saving asset in disaster situations. Just one of these mobile desalination plants can cover the daily water needs of a family. Furthermore, the bicycle provides mobility and low maintenance costs financial relief for the users.

TASKS: In this non-commercial community challenge, we envisage to deploy field tests with several prototypes (10 to 30 should be an achievable objective). We have a functional prototype, however, there are some smaller design aspects that have to addressed, like the optimisation of the pressure transducer for small capacities, reducing the size of the pump, compacting it, making it more robust, or optimise the sealing.

PERSPECTIVES: The service units of the TU Wien support the initiation phase of cooperative projects and developments based on in-house technologies. If needed, information and advice on funding opportunities for joint research projects can also be provided. The research project team of TU Wien has excellent expertise in the fields of membrane technology and thermal process engineering and has extensive experience in cooperative collaboration with non-university organisations and individuals. Solution orientation, openness and flexibility to meet the requirements of the partners are key in our approach.  

Challenge 2: Liquid-liquid-Extractor (TRL: 7-8)

TECHNOLOGY: Extraction, a two-stage process involving mixing and separation, is applied in analytical and micro-chemical technology for purification and analysis of fine organic compounds. The extraction process can be demanding and inefficient, if not automated or handled in batches. TU Wien’s novel extractor design combines the two stages of the extraction process. The compact design of reduced mechanical parts minimises dead volume and required space, increases separation efficiency, and makes operation and maintenance more time, cost and space efficient. The suggested design can be used directly in analytical-scale laboratories or scaled up for industrial applications.

TASKS: This industrial analytic product is clearly defined and can be customised to specific applications. Technical aspects lie in proof of concept testing, design improvements to further enhance sealing and robustness. We are therefore looking for suitable engineering partners, ideas for new use cases, business models and business partners.

PERSPECTIVES: All submitted ideas will be evaluated by experts from TU Wien based on their creativity and technical feasibility. The most promising submissions will be presented at the closing event together with researchers from TU Wien. If specific applications or suitable products already exist, customization projects or practical tests and proof-of-concepts to integrate the technology are feasible.  Here, too, the service units of TU Wien provide support with any questions regarding co-operation and funding advice.  

Challenge 3: Hydrogen Compressor (TRL: 4-5)

TECHNOLOGY: In power-to-gas system solutions, hydrogen is produced almost completely emission-free electrolytically, using excess capacities of volatile (renewable) energy sources. The hydrogen can then be stored, or distributed via the natural gas grid, so that no special pipelines are required. The presented technology enables the clean recovery of pure hydrogen from gas mixtures in fuel cell quality (99.9%) as well as compression, while at the same time methane can be fed back into the gas grid.

TASKS: In moving this project forward we are looking for industrial partners to validate proof of concept, e.g. in form of a master thesis, or deployment. A functional laboratory prototype is available. Technical development aspects are possibly in probe and sensor technology questions, and, where appropriate, need for control technology.

PERSPECTIVES: For an industrial research project, the TU Wien research team offer extensive experience in working with industry partners. Regular communication and coordination in project meetings, expert input at eye level and understanding of economic frameworks and conditions are just a few practises well established. Creating a scientifically sound basis for the economic exploitation of a product is a common interest. If needed, there is the possibility to write a joint funding application. The service units of TU Wien provide support with any questions regarding industry-related research and suitable funding possibilities.

Next steps

Interested persons can sign up for 1:1 calls or small group meetings to learn more about the respective technology and exchange ideas about possible next steps for collaboration.   

Once a common ground for the collaboration has been found, project meetings are set up according to the individual needs and backgrounds. According to the IMM briefing guide, it is envisioned to arrange a more concrete schedule of meetings by the end of June. 

Concerning communication and collaboration, TU Wien is able to provide various tools for external persons too. If desired TU Wien is flexible and also open to tools from outside the organization.

Call to Action

Everyone is invited to learn more about the presented technologies and research activities of TU Wien! We are looking forward to every contact and interesting idea.

Next steps

Individually organised 1:1 and group meetings as well as ongoing development of innovative solutions in coordination with the TU Wien team until the Best of #IMM2022 event on October 20th, 2022 at the Digital Days in the Impact Hub Vienna and online.

CONTACT

The main contact persons for these projects are Kathleen Jimenez-Mühlbacher and Daniel Rottenberg. Technology-specific contacts will be established accordingly.

About us

Technische Universität Wien

Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien) is Austria's largest research and educational institution in the field of technology and natural sciences. With more than 4,000 scientists conducting research in five main research areas at eight faculties and over 27,000 students in 55 degree programmes, TU Wien strengthens the business location as an innovation driver under the mission statement "Technology for People", facilitates co-operation and contributes to the prosperity of society.

More information about TU Wien

briefings 2022

• Infineon * Tributech * Magenta: IOT³ – smart, secure & sustainable

• Philips Domestic Appliances: The food prep challenge

• Schwarzmüller: With sensors and AI to innovative loading applications

• TU Wien: The water challenge

• More will follow shortly

BRIEFINGS OF PREVIOUS YEARS