Innovative method for purification of wastewater

A new hypothesis on deactivation of virus in water has been launched and will be verified within this project. A complementary team will be established with scientists highly skilled in biotechnology, plasma science, metallization and vacuum science. An innovative reactor suitable for treatment of polluted water with powerful short-wave radiation will be constructed and thoroughly verified by the group of vacuum scientists from the research group of company Vacutech Ltd. The source of useful radiation will be gaseous plasma sustained in a volume of about 100 litres and powered with a generator of adjustable power up to several 10 kW. The efficiency of this reactor in terms of useful radiation will be almost 10%. The ractor will be protected by an innovative shield (task for the research unit of company Elvez Ltd.) providing protection against electromagnetic interference and increased reflection of UV and VUV light by a special aluminium metallization coating. Contaminated water will flow through the reactor and will be constricted to a radiation-transparent and vacuum-tight tube. The destruction of virus upon treatment with the radiation arising from the said plasma reactor will be monitored using various biological techniques by the experts from the National Institute of Biology. The research group at the Department of Surface Engineering and Optoelectronics at Jozef Stefan Institute will provide the expertise in plasma physics, characterisation of the plasma source of useful radiation as well as detection of any irreversible modification of first-wall material upon exposure to powerful plasma. A patent application will be submitted to an EU office as soon as the first results confirm our hypothesis, while scientific aspects will be published in topical journals of high impact.