The Water Systems & Services Innovation Centre

Kevin Fitzgibbon

Introduction: Nimbus & WSSIC Nimbus Embedded Systems…

• Centre for Embedded Systems

• Cumulative funding c. €30M since 2006

• Over €4.2m funding in 2013

• Over 220 funded industry projects completed; over 60 now underway

• 50 prospects in the pipeline > €3m

• 40 disclosures/licences/patents in 4 yrs

• Expertise: Hardware, Software, Controls & Optimisation, Wireless Comms, Cloud-based systems, Data Handling, UX

• Domain Expertise: Energy, Water, e-Learning, e-Health, Internet of Things

….Trialling at LITMUS • LITMUS Technology Trialling Centre

• Real-world test beds for technology

• National Building Energy Systems Test Bed at Nimbus

• CIT campus-wide trials

• Macroom WWTP Test Bed

• Mallow Test Bed Town 1 Gb node + wireless research backbone

• Saves up to 18 months setup time • Access to 11,000 Population

Over 90 staff; high levels of industrial, innovation and research experience Skill and capability profiles Number PhD Post Docs 13

Masters Graduates 16

Degree Graduates 16

Interns/Undergrads 10

Managed own companies / worked in start-ups 13

Industry experience > 15 years 7

Industry experience 6 to 15 years 10

Industry experience 0 to 5 years 10

Innovation and Research experience > 15 years 4

Innovation and Research 6 to 15 years 15

Innovation and Research 0 to 5 years 25

Nimbus – People

Best-in-class solutions

Leading-edge water technologies

and services

Partner with leading academia, companies & SMEs

New platform solutions for water

Focus Areas

Water Systems & Services Innovation Centre

• A 3-way Partnership: CIT, Cork City Council, Cork County Council

• Uses CIT’s labs and research assets

• Active in all major water sectors

• Current Project Value €865k

• Pipeline c. €3m

• Managed like a business

The Vision: An Industry-Focussed Research and Innovation Centre for the Water Sector

Water Systems & Services Innovation AREAS OF WORK Embedded sensing and control for water

systems Anaerobic digestion and wastewater

treatment processes Energy from water-wastes Catchment management Environment monitoring Emerging contaminants Advanced treatment methods

OTHER ASSETS • Water & Environment Laboratory • CAPPA – Photonics and Process

Analysis Centre • Instrumentation, Mass Spectrometry and

Sensing Labs

INDUSTRY PARTNERS • Major Multinational Industry Partners • Cross-sector industry interest – local

authorities, pharmaceutical, food & drink sector; utilities

• Trialling technology from WSSIC projects

Water Project Examples

• WatNOS – Cost and Energy efficiency in Water Pumping

• FOGMON – Remote monitoring of FOGs for optimum servicing

and sewer protection

• AquaMetrics – Smart water sub-metering from a single location

• Integrated Monitoring Buoy – Environmental water quality

monitoring at low cost with data transmission to cloud

• Sludge Drying Beds – Zero energy sludge dewatering to 10%

dry solids for transport and treatment energy cost reduction

• Up to 75% of energy in WT Plants is for pumping water

• Watnos aims to reduce pumping cost • Uses detailed system modelling • It’s all about ‘How the plant is run’ • Initial model trials for Lee Road WTP

indicate potentially high savings available: perhaps > 20-25%

Watnos Project

76%

8%

4%

1% 1%

8%

1% 1%

Energy Consumption Breakdown in WTP

Pumping

Lighting and Building

Monitoring Equipment

Chlorination

Filtration

Aeration

Disinfection

Desalination

FOGMON Project • Fats Oils & Greases

MONitoring

• Innovative sensors

• Integrated sensing, data transmission & monitoring system

• Optimises maintenance & collection operations – reduced energy use

• Reduces pipe blockage and/or unnecessary cleaning

• Support from Industry-leading Partners

• Commercialisation Funding €268k secured from Enterprise Ireland

• Trialling in real-world test beds: Cork & Mallow

AquaMetrics Project • Targeting utilities and large

industrial & other water users

• Single-point metering on a water network

• Disaggregation of downstream flows at point of abstraction

• Innovative sensors

• Integrated sensing, data transmission & monitoring system in real time

• Data analysis for usage optimisation & leak detection

• Energy savings at point of production based on use minimisation

Integrated Monitoring Buoy – Environmental Water Quality

Zero-energy WWTP sludge dewatering Sludge conc. > 10% d.s. achieved Targeting small / rural locations Significant cost reduction for onward

transport Process automation in progress

SDB – Sludge Dewatering

Real-time monitoring of water quality parameters

Sediment and Nutrient Loadings for transport behaviour modelling

Low-cost low-maintenance platforms for continuous monitoring

CIT aspects: Design and development of all aspects

Opportunities for Innovation

• Energy Reduction & Recovery

• Treatment Processes/Compliance

• Nutrient Recovery/Re-use

• Infrastructure Rehabilitation/Upgrade

• Monitoring & Automation

• Climate Change Adaptation/Infrastructure Resilience

G Galvin Irish Water

The Water Systems & Services Innovation Centre

Kevin Fitzgibbon