HKUST Research Team Wins 2018 IWA PIA Bronze Medal Award for the breakthrough SANI technology makes in research and development
A research team led by Prof. Guanghao Chen – the Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), received the Bronze Medal Award of 2018 IWA Project Innovation Award under the category of Breakthroughs in Research and Development for their project – SANI technology, in recognition of the breakthrough SANI technology makes to the innovation, low energy and low carbon wastewater treatment technology, and its contributions to the worldwide water sector, especially in the coastal cities.
Awarded biennially at the IWA World Water Congress, the Project Innovation Awards recognize and promote excellence and innovation in water management, research and technology. Now in their 12th year, the awards are presented at a prestigious gala event in Tokyo, in front of an audience of water leaders from around the world on Monday 17 September 2018. The gala event was held on the first night of the IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition, a unique water event that attracts over 5,000 international water experts. At this inspiring evening, it announced that SANI technology won the IWA PIA Bronze Medal Award for Category: Breakthroughs in Research and Development after fierce competition featuring 160 entries from 45 countries.
Prof. Glen T. Daigger, IWA Past President and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, said “I am impressed with the research findings of the project conducted by Professor Chen’s research team. The use of seawater as an alternative water, nutrient and energy resource is a new area of applied research. While the Triple Water Supply system and the SANI process can be used individually, the integrated system can give the best result as a low cost, low energy consumption and low carbon footprint total water management system. Today, about 844 million people lack access to safe water, and 2.3 billion people do not have adequate sanitation. I am confident that the research findings will be of great use for the islands and coastal areas.”
On receiving the prize, Prof. Guanghao Chen said “SANI technology obtained IWA Project Innovation Award once again this year, which is of great acknowledgement to this original technology and encouragement to our team. On behalf of all the team members, I sincerely thank the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission and the Hong Kong Drainage Service Department and other institutions for their strong support.”
More about SANI Technology
Hong Kong has been using seawater for toilet flushing since 1950s, saving 745,000 m3/d of seawater and serving 5.85 million people. This was further developed into a Triple Water Supply system at the Hong Kong International Airport, saving 52% of freshwater and 30,000 MWh/y of electricity by seawater cooling. Making use of sulfate from seawater, we have developed the Sulfate reduction Autotrophic denitrification and Nitrification Integrated (SANI) process by introducing a sulfur cycle into biological nitrogen removal process. As all three functional bacteria are slow growers, sludge production is reduced. In this project, we have operated a 1000 m3/d SANI demonstration plant for 250 days, and achieved 70% biological sludge reduction. This demonstrates a new integrated water management plan for governors of coastal cities to consider in view of the ever-growing water scarcity problems.
