Jul 4 2012
The Environmental Unit of the Tecnalia Technology Corporation, the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research (BIOEF) and Fluytec, a company specialising in filtration solutions, have developed a filtration system capable of retaining 95% of nanoparticles thanks to the results of the SIFINA project.
The SIFINA project, financed by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia's Department of Economic Promotion and finalized in March, set out to study the capability of different types of membranes to retain nanoparticles and propose an effective nanoparticle filtration system at an industrial scale.
As a result of the project, the members of SIFINA have obtained a level of nanoparticle filtration over 95% with membranes which already exist on the market, an advancement which will allow them to offer nanoparticle recovery systems in the short-term to industries where there is an important loss of nanoparticles during the process.
The system will also allow for a large level of retention of nanoparticles when the objective is that they do not pass through the medium because their effects on health and the environment are considered harmful.
The project results were presented in March during a conference with a vary varied attendance which included institutional representatives such as the NanoBasque Agency, from the business and academic world, like the UPV-EHU; as well as members from other R&D centres and members of the work group from the three entities involved in the project. The conference to present the results ended with a visit to the project's resulting pilot plant located at the installation owned by Fluytec in Mungia.
Source: nanoBasque