Miquel Blasi Roma
CEO
e-Watts Technologies
Miquel Blasi is a biologist (B.Sc., University of Barcelona, 1989) with 28 years of experience in electrochemical technology applied to environmental solutions. He has held technical and executive positions in several companies, including CEO roles at Ecoproges, Minimal Waste and Water, Suez and currently at E-Watts Technologies. Throughout his career, he has developed six patents in electrochemical technology applications, focusing on sustainable water treatment and environmental innovation.
Participates in
TECHNICAL PROGRAMME | Energy Infrastructure
Water Management in the Energy Industry: Innovations for Sustainability & Efficiency
Forum 12 | Technical Programme Hall 2
30
April
10:00
11:30
UTC+3
Desalination plants in the Arabian Gulf and other arid regions face significant challenges in terms of efficiency and productivity. Currently, Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems achieve permeate yields of approximately 30–35%, limiting their effectiveness in meeting growing water demands. Simultaneously, there is an increasing global focus on integrating sustainable energy sources into industrial processes.
This study presents a novel Electrochemical Desalination Pretreatment (EDP) technology, developed by E-Watts Technologies (patent pending), aimed at enhancing the performance of existing RO desalination plants. The EDP process has been tested in over 25 lab pilot-scale trials, demonstrating improvements in RO productivity of 45–50%, reaching permeate recovery rates between 50–80%. Additionally, fouling rates were reduced by over 94%, consumption of anti-scaling agents decreased by approximately 80%, and bicarbonate/carbonate concentrations and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) were reduced by more than 94% and 90%, respectively.
An additional feature of the EDP system is its capacity to enable the cogeneration of green hydrogen. For a desalination facility with a capacity of 1,000,000 m³/day, hydrogen production is estimated at 3,000–4,000 tonnes per year. The integration of EDP not only improves water treatment performance but also reduces environmental impact by lowering chemical reagent use, concentrate discharge volumes, and reliance on new infrastructure such as marine outfalls.
The implementation of EDP has the potential to optimize existing desalination infrastructure, reduce operating expenses (OPEX), and transform desalination plants into dual-purpose facilities capable of both freshwater and green hydrogen production. The estimated payback period for the technology is 1.5 years. EDP thus offers a unified solution to two critical global challenges: enhancing desalination efficiency and enabling sustainable hydrogen generation from seawater.
Co-author/s:
Rita Blasi, e-Watts Technologies SL.
This study presents a novel Electrochemical Desalination Pretreatment (EDP) technology, developed by E-Watts Technologies (patent pending), aimed at enhancing the performance of existing RO desalination plants. The EDP process has been tested in over 25 lab pilot-scale trials, demonstrating improvements in RO productivity of 45–50%, reaching permeate recovery rates between 50–80%. Additionally, fouling rates were reduced by over 94%, consumption of anti-scaling agents decreased by approximately 80%, and bicarbonate/carbonate concentrations and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) were reduced by more than 94% and 90%, respectively.
An additional feature of the EDP system is its capacity to enable the cogeneration of green hydrogen. For a desalination facility with a capacity of 1,000,000 m³/day, hydrogen production is estimated at 3,000–4,000 tonnes per year. The integration of EDP not only improves water treatment performance but also reduces environmental impact by lowering chemical reagent use, concentrate discharge volumes, and reliance on new infrastructure such as marine outfalls.
The implementation of EDP has the potential to optimize existing desalination infrastructure, reduce operating expenses (OPEX), and transform desalination plants into dual-purpose facilities capable of both freshwater and green hydrogen production. The estimated payback period for the technology is 1.5 years. EDP thus offers a unified solution to two critical global challenges: enhancing desalination efficiency and enabling sustainable hydrogen generation from seawater.
Co-author/s:
Rita Blasi, e-Watts Technologies SL.
