Membrane modules that return valuable substances from wastewater back to production while protecting the environment. A team from CXI TUL is working on their development in collaboration with MEGA Group and MemBrain. When designing new industrial equipment, they use computer modeling and 3D printing, which speeds up, refines, and reduces the cost of the entire process.
Contaminated industrial water often contains more than just what needs to be cleaned and removed. It typically includes salts, acids, alkaline substances, or other components that are expensive to produce and difficult to remove. A team of experts is therefore developing a new approach to designing equipment capable of separating these substances from the water and enabling their reuse.
Wastewater as a Treasure
It is not just about the purification of water itself. The new approach changes the logic of wastewater management: what was previously considered waste becomes a valuable raw material once again. Water can be returned to production, for example for cooling or other process steps, and valuable chemicals remain in circulation instead of being lost or burdening the environment.
Moreover, every industrial facility requires a slightly different solution, so a one-size-fits-all approach to water treatment does not work. “Every wastewater stream has a different composition, and the membrane technology itself must adapt to that. We design it to best suit the specific operation. A one-size-fits-all solution would be larger, more expensive, and more maintenance-intensive,” explains Martin Seidl, the project lead at CXI TUL.
Instead of an expensive and time-consuming process based on constant testing and adjustments, the project relies on the team’s experience, computer modeling, and a proprietary 3D printing method using silicone. The result is faster development, cheaper prototypes, and technologies that can significantly reduce both energy costs and the environmental footprint of industrial operations.
When everything has to fit perfectly
Developing such a device, however, is no simple task. These are electrodialysis modules—in other words, a membrane system whose production can be likened to assembling a delicate sandwich made of many thin layers that must fit together with great precision. If any part is compressed too much, it can be damaged. Conversely, if it is not pressed tightly enough, the entire system leaks and does not function as intended.
Digital Design: The Path to the Perfect Module
Computer modeling therefore plays a key role. It allows researchers to see in advance where the device might deform, where the design needs fine-tuning, and how to optimize the entire module to make it as reliable as possible. Previously, everything had to be tested, repaired, and re-verified in a time-consuming process. Each step took time and was costly. Today, simulations allow new modules to be designed in less time, with greater precision, and with a minimum of physical prototypes.
Figure 1: Display of displacements on a 100-pair module during simulation of its tightening to the specified torque.
Figure 2: Equivalent von Mises stress on a 100-pair module during simulation of its tightening to the specified torque.
Figure 3: Von Mises equivalent stress on a 100-pair module. Comparison for different cross-brace configurations.
3D printing cuts down on wait times
But development doesn’t stop at the computer. The team also came up with its own 3D printing method, which allows for the production of components combining rigid parts and flexible silicone elements.
Instead of waiting a long time for individual parts, the researchers were able to test multiple variants in a shorter time. This gave them a better understanding of how the shape and arrangement of individual parts affect the functioning of the entire device. It was this experience that propelled them toward a new generation of better-designed modules.
“Traditional manufacturing of similar components requires expensive injection molds. It was 3D printing that allowed us to test different variants faster and more cheaply, fine-tune the module’s geometry, and advance development much more efficiently,” explains Martin Seidl.
The Future of Development Rests on Modeling
The benefits of the new solution are very concrete. The upgraded devices can reduce energy consumption by up to 40%, limit the number of units needed in operation, and simultaneously lower maintenance costs.
Another advantage is its wide range of applications. The technology can be used in the chemical industry, textile manufacturing, the energy sector, and battery recycling.
In the coming years, the solutions developed through the collaboration between MEGA, MemBrain, and CXI TUL are expected to find applications across a wide range of standard industrial operations. At the same time, computer modeling is gradually becoming a standard part of the design and development process, helping to create equipment that is more precise, durable, and energy-efficient.
