MAGNET’EAU PROJECT

TREATMENT PROCESS COMBINING MAGNETITE AND ADVANCED OXIDATION.

Pollution from agricultural, industrial and urban activities affects all categories of natural water: surface water (rivers, lakes, etc.) and groundwater (water tables). The multiplicity of molecules involved in this pollution poses considerable risks to human health and aquatic ecosystems. In recent years, advances in chemical analysis have revealed the presence of numerous molecules in very low concentrations, known as micropollutants.

Magnetite, an iron oxide with the formula Fe3O4, has interesting properties for the development of new, efficient processes for the treatment of micropollutants. It combines heavy metal adsorption properties with a chemical structure (due to the presence of Fe(II) and Fe(III) ions) that is particularly useful for catalysing advanced oxidation processes. The magnetites used in this project are part of a circular economy approach, as they are produced from steel industry waste and co-products. Combining the skills of the two partner companies, HYMAG’IN and Treewater, this project is the first building block in a general approach to demonstrating the effectiveness of magnetite-based processes for eliminating micropollutants. It focuses on preliminary absorption/reduction and advanced oxidation tests carried out on simple and synthetic matrices.