Wastewater treatment project among winners of Student Startup
The project of Mansur Nafikov, a master’s degree graduate of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and System Engineering of Kazan Federal University, Creation of a cold plasma source for wastewater treatment from pathogens, was triumphant in the Biotechnology nomination.
The main danger of industrial effluents of enterprises is a large amount of organic contaminants coming from equipment washing operations, as well as residues of products and production waste. The entry of polluted effluents into water bodies leads to a sharp decrease in the concentration of dissolved oxygen in water (pH) and further death of its inhabitants – planktons and phytocenoses. This is inevitably followed by an environmental disaster.
The current chemical method – chlorination – is harmful not only to the environment, but also to humans, says the developer.
“During the literature review while writing my master’s thesis, I studied a large amount of information related to various methods of wastewater disinfection. The method of applying cold atmospheric plasma, which has recently attracted great interest from scientists and industrialists, seemed to me the most progressive. This method is considered to be the fastest, most efficient and cost-effective,” says the young engineer.
As an alternative, Mansur Nafikov and representatives of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence in Biotechnical Systems proposed the technology of wastewater disinfection by cold atmospheric air plasma. For this purpose, an air ionizer is used, consisting of a generator with an output voltage of up to 20 kilovolts, and a plasmatron, where cold air plasma is formed – under its action, bacteria and microbes die in wastewater. The device has been patented.
“This method is the safest. The use of cold atmospheric plasma allows the simultaneous use of electromagnetic component, ultraviolet radiation, and ozonization,” Nafikov emphasizes.
Mansur was greatly supported in his experimental research by his supervisor – Associate Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence in Biotechnical Systems Sergei Smirnov, Lead Engineer of the same department Vladimir Strekalov, and the Institute management.
The inventor is focused on Russian medium and small businesses where wastewater treatment is required as a result of production, in particular the B2B/B2C sector of the market.
“The development can be applied in the food industry and other sectors of the national economy,” shares the winner. “The device can be assembled at any specialized enterprise using standard equipment, well-known domestic materials and technologies.”
It should be noted that Nafikov has only 12 months to realize the project. In addition to the cost of creating the device itself, most of the funds of the 1 million rubles will go to the registration of a legal entity, marketing, as well as website management.