Dr. Giulia Mossotti, a key member of our team, has recently been interview by Politecnico di Torino regarding her contribution to intelWATT, a European research project dedicated to developing smart technologies for managing industrial wastewater, while focusing on water preservation, energy production, and material recovery in energy-intensive industries.
Below, you'll find excerpts from her interview. For the complete article, follow this link.
Sensor Technology for Online Water Monitoring
Electroplating processes, commonly used to manufacture metal objects by depositing metal onto specific moulds, have long generated wastewater rich in heavy metals, posing significant environmental and human health concerns. To address this issue, Politecnico has developed a real-time monitoring system for trivalent chromium, a metal widely used in electroplating. Although it is less toxic than its hexavalent form, trivalent chromium is still subject to strict environmental regulations, particularly regarding freshwater, where allowable concentration limits are extremely low.
Traditionally, the detection of these pollutants relies on complex, time-consuming laboratory analyses, which are not always compatible with the pace of industrial production. However, the University has developed an optoelectronic system that can be easily integrated into production lines and is capable of delivering accurate and real-time chemical monitoring. This area of research was led by Giulia Mossotti, Research Assistant at Chilab-ITEM, the laboratory of the Department of Applied Science and Technology-DISAT, based in Chivasso. “It was highly interdisciplinary work,” says Sergio Ferrero, Full Professor at DISAT and her supervisor. As coordinator of the activities related to the sensors, Ferrero adds: “In addition to analytical chemistry, the project involved expertise in electronics, mechanics, optics and computer science to design an integrated system capable not only of measuring, but also of interpreting and transmitting data in real time”.
The process was developed in close cooperation with companies involved in the management of process water containing heavy metals, and a pilot demonstrator was implemented in Germany at the facilities of BIA GmbH, a company specialising in electroplating. “This approach made it possible not only to validate the technology in a real-world setting, but also to tailor it to the operational needs of industrial plants, ensuring reproducible results and stable performance over time”, Professor Ferrero points out.
