Water Treatment System Advances at Princess Elisabeth Antarctica

Aymar DE LICHTERVELDE, Managing Partner, Revalio

Transcript

1. 1 Closing the loop in Antarctica: from today's PEA to a 22nd century station Antarctic Futures Symposium · 23rd of April 2026 CLOSING THE LOOP Aymar de Lichtervelde Co-Founder & CTO Revalio
2. 2 ANTARCTIC FUTURES SYMPOSIUM The future of water in Antarctica? From today's PEA reality to a zero-emission 22nd century station. A State of the art Water treatment & reuse at PEA B Closing the loop Max reuse · Min energy C 22nd century station D Synthesis Reuse Ceiling · Zero Liquid Discharge? · Nutrient recovery
3. 3 < 1% = 50-55 L / day Water Cycle at PEA +/- 40% circularity A · STATE OF THE ART
4. 4 Water Production and Distribution Drinking Water Domestic Hot Water Heating Solar Thermal Panels Snow Melter Unit Water Storage Devices A · STATE OF THE ART
5. 5 Drinking Water: Chlorination & Mineralisation 0 100 200 300 Na K Ca Mg Cl NO3 SO4 HCO3 Concentration (mg/L) Chaudfontaine PE water PEA Water tastes like Chaudfontaine! Meltwater is too « pure » to drink ! A · STATE OF THE ART
6. 6 Solids: 100% removal Bacteria, viruses Carbon: 99% removal Nitrogen: 80-95% removal 22 29 7 g 54 0 10 20 30 40 50 Black Water Grey Water Dry Sludge Purified Water Volume (L/pers/day) * Wastewater Treatment REUSE ME! A · STATE OF THE ART
7. 7 How does it work? A · STATE OF THE ART
8. 8 Treat & Reuse Water (photo!) 7 m 4 m 4m 2 m A · STATE OF THE ART
9. 9 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 1/2 A · STATE OF THE ART
10. 10 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition 2/2 A · STATE OF THE ART
11. 11 B · CLOSING THE LOOP Four levers to tune the existing loop The loop works. The energy bill is where the next gains hide. Reuse ratio 40% → ~55% Hard limit: drinking water requires meltwater Membrane filtration −20–25% Cleaning In Place - Hydrophilic membranes Heat management 45–50 °C Insulate · reduce heat losses Process tuning Aeration · HRT · SRT Dynamic process optimisation
12. 12 Energy use: Wastewater treatment 170 111 76 35,6 MELTWATER RECYCLED WATER 2020 RECYCLED WATER 2023 RECYCLED WATER 2024 FEASIBLE CURRENT DESIGN B · CLOSING THE LOOP
13. 13 Drinking Water Production C · 22ND CENTURY STATION
14. 14 Wastewater Treatment C · 22ND CENTURY STATION
15. 15 Zero Liquid Discharge? Evaporate every last litre · export only dry salt. FB-MBR UF RO >80% recovery Evaporator Thermal (MVR) Salt out Dry salt Exported off-site Water reuse à 99% Solids: ~1% exported as stable dry waste Severe energy consumption, unless direct reuse is permitted Regulatory Discharge forbidden per policy Ice sheet No access to water body No infiltration possible Coastal fragility Benthic ecosystems C · 22ND CENTURY STATION
16. 16 Pollutant Removal vs. Resource Recovery Three retrofits turn wastewater into feedstock. Element Today · Removed Tomorrow · Recovered Nitrogen Vented as N₂ Keep NO₃⁻ → hydroponics Phosphorus Lost in sludge Struvite recovery? → slow-release fertiliser Carbon Digester only used to break down OM Biogas production? · CH₄ → heat is valorised The station becomes a biorefinery · water ↔ nutrients ↔ energy ↔ food C · 22ND CENTURY STATION
17. 17 Feed 100 people from the inside Proteins · carbohydrates · lipids — all produced on site. Proteins Solein · microbial Yield ~3.3 t / yr Energy 160 kWh / kg Water ~10 L / kg Carbohydrates Hydroponics · LED Yield ~11 t / yr Energy 60 kWh / kg Water ~50 L / kg Lipids Yeast bioreactor Yield ~3.4 t Energy 58 kWh / kg Water ~200 L / kg TOTAL · 100 PEOPLE ca. 80 kW of electrical power drinking water ~110 m³ / y C · 22ND CENTURY STATION « food » water ~1270 m³ / y
18. 18 D · SYNTHESIS A design grid for the next-gen station Four non-negotiable constraints · proven today · pushed further tomorrow. Constraint PEA · today 22nd century station · tomorrow Renewable energy Most electric power is waste to heat Fatal heat recovery ? Biomethanisation ? Energy efficiency Semi-closed loop · 35.6 kWh / m³ recycled Optimisations → further 20–25% improvement Food autonomy Imported (100% freighted) On-site biorefinery : N + P + C recovery → hydroponics + bioreactors Water Reuse and Discharge ~0.02% solid waste 60% purified water is discharge Reuse pushed to 80-90% Zero Liquid Discharge Direct Potable Reuse?
19. 19 Let’s revalue water aymar@revalio.tech Responsable Technologie +32 494 92 29 33 REVALIO.TECH