🌿 ECO-EFFICIENT BIOFILTRATION AND WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT WITHIN A CIRCULAR ECONOMY
🔬 DIRECTION 1: BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
📌 Native macrophyte screening: Evaluating the biofiltration capacity of indigenous species from Romania's spontaneous flora (genus Lemna).
🌿 Lemna minor (Common Duckweed): Surface-level growth (4.8 kg/m²), delivering a 20% efficiency rate in pollutant ion removal.
🍀 Lemna trisulca (Star Duckweed): The project's major breakthrough – three-dimensional growth throughout the water column, a massive biomass yield of 15.3 kg/m², and a record 56% purification rate of harmful compounds (nitrogen, phosphorus, ammonia).
⚡ DIRECTION 2: OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY (RAS SYSTEMS)
🔋 Energy reduction: Achieving a 30%+ drop in electricity expenses within recirculation and filtration processes.
💧 Water resource conservation: Minimizing the daily fresh water replacement volume to under 5%.
📉 Cost optimization: Securing a minimum 15% reduction in direct operational costs compared to standard RAS setups.
♻️ DIRECTION 3: DUAL VALORIZATION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
🐟 Alternative feed sources: Converting wastewater nutrients into valuable plant biomass containing up to 40% crude protein, highly suitable for herbivorous fish.
⚡ Bioenergy production: Utilizing excess harvested biomass as a premium substrate for biogas installations.
📜 OSIM Patenting: Filing a patent application for the innovative long-column biofilter design optimized for the three-dimensional growth of macrophytes.