SUEZ Challenge: Seeking Processes for Profitable Recovery of Sulfates from Wastewater

Current methods to recover sulfates from wastewater streams are limited in their capability to work in challenging industrial conditions and/or to generate a new revenue stream from the recovered sulfates. Hence, SUEZ is looking for a solution to solve these two limitations. 

This Theoretical Challenge requires only a written proposal.

Incineration of chemical wastes generates sulfate-rich wastewater. Sulfates have to be removed from the wastewater prior to discharge and this generates an opportunity to create a new revenue stream due to the many applications that sulfate products potentially have. 

In order to maximise this economic opportunity, SUEZ is looking for a profitable process / technology to incorporate in its wastewater treatment plants and recover the sulfates present in their effluents for high-value industrial applications. The process must be able to cope with the challenging industrial conditions found in the wastewater treatment plants and that are described in the Detailed Description section of this Challenge. 

This is a Theoretical Challenge that requires only a written proposal to be submitted. The Challenge award will be contingent upon theoretical evaluation of the proposal by the Seeker. 

To receive an award, the Solvers will not have to transfer their exclusive IP rights to the Seeker. Instead, Solvers will grant to the Seeker a non-exclusive license to practice their solutions. 

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on September 11, 2016.  Late submissions will not be considered.

ABOUT THE SEEKER

Present all over the world, SUEZ is a global leader dedicated to water and waste management. One of its divisions deals with hazardous waste recovery and treatment. In Europe, there are several plant specialized in hazardous waste thermal treatment, one of them dedicated to salty chemical waste.