Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – UPC
The UPC is the public university for research and higher education in the fields of engineering, architecture, science and technology. Among the UPC’s research activities, those related to Water Technology stand out, particularly those of the ENMA group. ENMA is one of the INTEXTER research groups. The institute is recognized as a TECNIO development center of the Agency for the Competitiveness of Companies of the Generalitat of Catalonia. The ENMA research group was established in 1977, when society, researchers and authorities began to become aware of the need to treat wastewater and improve the quality of rivers and the environment in general. Initially it was a group of 3 researchers focused on the treatment of textile wastewater. A few years later (1982), due to the crisis in the textile sector, the group’s activity expanded to all types of industrial wastewater. Since 2004, ENMA has been recognized as a consolidated research group. Currently, the group has 6 full-time researchers and the research fields have expanded. The group’s research is subdivided into 5 interconnected lines with the common objective of contributing to the search for technological solutions that promote the circular economy and that are applicable to various industrial and social sectors while contributing to achieving different sustainable development objectives ( SDG). The main lines of research focus on: 1. Project management, 2. Industrial water management, 3. Waste management, 4. Industrial and residential energy management and 5. Detection, analysis and treatment of emerging contaminants. All have the circular economy as their main engine. The analysis of the environmental and social life cycle (eLCA and sLCA) and also the economic life cycle (LCC) is used as a tool for making decisions between different technological solutions or alternatives and to evaluate the sustainability of projects. The line of research in water management in the industry is one of the lines where the group has the most experience.
