Nanorauta project

TANIA Spinoff

Nanorauta project has been planned and composed in the stakeholder group of Interreg Eu project TANIA. SMEs and authorities working in Päijät-Häme with remediation of contaminated sites have brought up needs considering

• the easement of implementing novel remediation techniques
• boosting of the local remediation business

Creating business from the cooperation between universities and companies

Development of a novel remediation method is often too much work for SMEs companies, which is why cooperation with universities is needed. Nanorauta project supports the testing and development of a novel remediation technique in laboratory, pilot and field scale.

Method development with the cooperation between universities and companies speeds up the development process and is cost-effective solutions. It gives better preconditions for method commercialization, which increases the competitiveness of SMEs and enables business growth. International cooperation may lead to solutions, which are also implemented in EU. This opens up international markets for SMEs in Päijät-Häme.

Ideas mentioned above and the results, discussions and conclusions drawn from TANIA project have been the thriving force behind Nanorauta project. You can read more about TANIA here.

Implementation of novel remediation techniques

The need for the enhancement of implementing of novel in situ remediation techniques has been recognised in TANIA project. Especially nanoiron based methods have gained lot of attention because of their effectiveness but still minor use. To implement nanoiron methods in the finnish remediation practice and to develop the method even further, Nanorauta project compines nanoiron with biostimulation and electrokinetics. The head of Nanorauta, Professor Martin Romantschuk (University of Helsinki) and his research group has a lot of experience on the use of biostimulation and elecktrokinetics for the rehabilitation of contaminated sites.

Why method compination is worth it?

In Nanorauta project nanoiron based remediation is combined with microbiological remediation and electrokinetics is used to spread the otherwise poorly spreading nanoiron particles to reach the contaminant in subsurface environment. The effectiviness of nanoiron is based on the small size of the nanoparticles and oxidation and reduction reactions between the iron and the contaminants. To combine nanoiron with biological remedation enhances the remediation process since the the oxidation of nanoiron releases useful hydrogen for microbes. In Nanorauta project Nanoiron-biostimulation-electrokinetics (nZVI-BiS-EK) is developmed for the remediation of oil hydrocarbons and chlorinated ethenes.

Strenghtening cooperation between universitie and companies

In Nanorauta project nZVI-BiS-EK method is turned into a profitable business. The project helps to understand what the use of nZVI-BiS-EK takes from companies working in the nordic conditions. Based on the project results the nZVI-BiS-EK method is commerzialiced for the benefit of SMEs.

Internationality

In nanorrauta project the international interaction with top experts in the field will be boosted. An important resource is the Tania-project borne prospect of building a soil research station in Toscana in Italy using the Soilia station in Lahti and the GisFi station in Lorraine, France as models. This will enable comparisons of e.g. soil contaminant behavior between climatic regions, and will serve as a tool for predicting contaminated site issues as the climate change progresses. This cooperation will also benefit the development of SOILIa to fit better in the needs of remediation companies. You can read more about SOILIA in here.

Easement of remediation administration

Nanorauta project also aims to ease the adminstrative practice of remediation proecess. By interwieving the companies and authorities involved in remediation practices, and their clients, the administrative challenges associated with contaminated site purification are mapped, discussed and popularized.