C2I 2020: Energy & Environment shortlist

Category: Energy & Environment

Project: In-process Liquid Sampling Device

Partners: Advanced Sampling Process Instruments (ASPI) Ltd with Glasgow Caledonian University

This five-year project has led to the development of technology for automating a key process within wastewater treatment plants that use bacteria to break down contaminants.

The device, which is currently undergoing trials at a number of locations, can be used to automate both settlement analysis and bacterial activity analysis, two processes that are key to optimising the energy efficiency of treatment plants but which are currently performed using time consuming manual techniques.

Whilst there have been previous efforts to automate these tests, these have proven to be both expensive and unreliable. According to its developers the In-process Liquid Sampler (ILS) resolves these problems with an elegant system that enables plant operators to collect near continuous data.

The system’s self-contained design – which consists of a chamber for collecting the sample, and an additional chamber housing all of the associated electronics - was finessed through a deep collaboration between ASPI and its academic partner, Glasgow Caledonian University initially through student projects that helped to develop a prototype system and more recently by working together to obtain funding to expand the team and take the project forward.