IEA SHC Task 62: Solar Energy in Industrial Water and Wastewater Management

The main objective of IEA SHC Task 62 is to increase the use of solarthermal energy in industry, to develop newcollector technologies and to open up industrial and municipal water treatment as a newarea of application with high market potential for solar thermal energy. The nexus between solar thermal energy and water treatment enables the development of newand innovative technology combinations and the change to a sustainable, resource- and energy-efficient industry.

Short Description

The change to a sustainable, resource- and energy-efficient industry represents a major challenge in the coming years. The efficient supply of energy, the best possible integration of renewable energy sources and the recovery of resources in the sense of circular economy must go hand in hand. The use of solar process heat represents a large, but so far largely unused, potential in industry. Innovative and concrete solutions are needed for the long-term and successful introduction of solar thermal energy. The integration of solar process heat to supply technologies for waste water treatment represents a newfield of application with great technical and economic potential for solar thermal energy. The efficient interaction, the nexus, between solar energy and water opens up new and innovative approaches.

The main objective of IEA SHC Task 62 is to increase the use of solar thermal energy in industry, to develop newcollector technologies and to open up industrial and municipal water treatment as a newarea of application with high market potential for solar thermal energy. The nexus between solar thermal energy and water treatment enables the development of newand innovative technology combinations and the change to a sustainable, resource- and energy-efficient industry.

The IEA SHC Task 62 takes place under the Austrian leadership of DI Christoph Brunner. In addition to its role as operating agent, the Austrian participation contributes the following research activities:

  • Evaluation of solar-powered membrane distillation in various application areas (industrial and municipal)
  • Definition of the future R&D requirements for solar-powered water separation technologies (focus on membrane distillation)
  • Development of a concept for a solar reactor that uses heat and UV radiation simultaneously
  • Identification of newapplication areas for solar-based water decontamination and disinfection systems for industrial process water and waste water
  • Presentation of technological, economic and political barriers to new decontamination and disinfection systems
  • Development of integration concepts
  • Collection of national best practice examples and publication in the SHIP database
  • Development of the structure, parameters and criteria for the decision-making tool

Project Images

Terms of use: The pictures listed underneath the header “Project Pictures” originate from the projects in the frame of the programmes City of Tomorrow, Building of Tomorrow and the IEA Research Cooperation. They may be used credited for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC).

Participants

Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Cyorus, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates

Contact Address

AEE – Institut für Nachhaltige Technologien (AEE INTEC)
Feldgasse 19, A-8200 Gleisdorf
Projektleitung: Christoph Brunner
Tel: +43 (0)3112-5886 - 470
E-Mail: c.brunner@aee.at

Johannes Kepler Universität Linz – Institute of Polymeric Materials and Testing
Altenberger Street 69, A-4040 Linz
Projektmitarbeiter: Reinhold Lang, Patrick Bradler
Tel: +43 (0) 732 2468 6610
E-Mail: ipmt@jku.at