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Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (IBET)

www.ibet.pt

iBET is an SME created to integrate biological and biochemical knowledge from academic and industrial partners into technology for economic wealth and job creation. The SME iBET is a private non-profit research intensive institution with the mission to integrate and strengthen biological and biochemical knowledge from its academic and industrial partners into technology and transfer it into economic wealth and job creation.

iBET brings together, as partners and collaborators, private companies and public institutions, creating a critical mass of competencies for product and process development. iBET comprises 16 laboratories and owns an adjacent bio pilot plant, in which companies have access to fermentation and downstream processing skills and equipment. iBET has coordinated over 20 international projects and has participated as work-package leader in more than 40 projects supported by the EC.

The iBET team has significant expertise in research in bioengineering, wastewater treatment, nutrient removal, biopolymer production and mathematical modelling, including the use of mixed microbial based processes for biopolymer production (e.g. polyhydroxyalkanoates - PHA) and resource recovery from residues. The group has a consolidated experience in the management and implementation of EU projects and a stable network with water and waste public and private companies and water authorities. In this field the Group holds relevant coordination roles such as: secretary of a specialist group of the International Water Association (IWA), co-chair of the COST action Water_2020 and editorial board positions in the journals of Water Science and Technology and Water Research. Furthermore this team has an extensive experience in training and supervision of higher education fellows (Masters, PhD and Post-Doc).

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SMART-Plant scales-up in real environment eco-innovative and energy-efficient solutions to renovate existing wastewater treatment plants and close the circular value chain by applying low-carbon techniques to recover materials that are otherwise lost.

Seven plus two (7+2) pilot systems were optimized for more than two years in real environment in five municipal water treatment plants, including also two post-processing facilities. The systems were automatized with the aim of optimizing wastewater treatment, resource recovery, energy-efficiency and reduction of greenhouse emissions. A comprehensive SMART portfolio comprising biopolymers, cellulose, fertilizers and intermediates were recovered and processed up to the final commercializable end-products.

Dynamic modeling and superstructure framework for decision support was developed and validated to identify the optimum SMART-Plant system integration options for recovered resources and technologies.

The integration of resource recovery assets to system wide asset management programs were evaluated in each site following the resource recovery paradigm for the wastewater treatment plant of the future, enabled through SMART-Plant solutions. The project proved the feasibility of circular management of urban wastewater and environmental sustainability of the systems, through Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing approaches as well as the global benefit of the scaled-up water solutions.

Global market deployment was achieved as right fit solution for water utilities and relevant industrial stakeholders, considering the strategic implications of the resource recovery paradigm in case of both public and private water management. New public-private partnership models were also explored connecting the water sector to the chemical industry and its downstream segments such as the construction and agricultural sector, thus generating new opportunities for funding and potential public-private competition.