Ričardas Zaicas is currently a Project Manager at Rainmaker Holland B.V. He graduated from the Klaipeda University in Lithuania and holds a Master’s degree in Ecology and Environmental Science (Photo by: Jos Kottmann).
With the focus on sustainability and water technologies, he has experience in the international projects as well as the knowledge of main innovation funding programs and management. Ričardas is a team member of Rainmaker Holland multidisciplinary team currently conformed of 11 highly qualified individuals with a significant knowledge in renewable energy and engineering, water technologies and international business development.
Could you make a brief presentation of your company and introduce your technology?
Rainmaker Holland is a Dutch company founded in 2008 by inventor Piet Oosterling, and is focused on the developing decentralized water purification technologies. During the 10-year R&D, Rainmaker has developed two product lines A2W – Air-to-Water and W2W – Water-to-Water to address increasing drinking water scarcity worldwide. Both of the technologies are based on the innovative cooling – heating cycles which allow the technologies to be directly powered by renewable energy.
The A2W – Air-to-Water is a proprietary Rainmaker technology that utilizes a condensation process to convert air humidity to drinking water. A fan is used to optimize airflow through the heat exchangers where the air is cooled below dew point, so the water condensation process takes place. By applying energy-optimising algorithms and real-time monitoring system, Rainmaker A2W unit is capable to produce up to 5,000 litres of water per day (temp. 26oC, RH 80%) and can be easily scaled to meet water demand. Developed to be powered by renewable energy, this technology is currently in market introduction phase with first installations in Sri Lanka, Morocco and Jamaica.
The W2W – Water-to-Water is based on Membrane Distillation process where sea-water is evaporated by heat pump. The vapour produced from heating the sea-water passes through the hydrophobic vapour-selective membrane which only allows vapour to diffuse through. The driving force of this technology is the temperature difference between sides of the membrane. The development of Water-to-Water technology is funded by EU under Horizon 2020 program (GA: 873854) to promote innovative desalination system 100% powered by renewable energy.
W2W technology validation at DESAL + LIVING LAB facilities
Rainmaker is developing first decentralized off-grid seawater desalination system based on membrane distillation technology which is powered completely by wind and solar energy. First industrial W2W will be installed and validated at DESAL + LIVING LAB facilities in Pozo Izquierdo (Gran Canaria, Spain). The W2W technology validation is subdivided into three main phases that will be scaled to reach to 80 m3 water production while entirely powered by wind and solar energy combination. For this purpose, 4 containerised membrane distillation systems, 100 kW wind turbine and 25kWp will be installed to conform complete industrial W2W installation. In a collaboration with Canary Islands Institute of Technology (ITC), Rainmaker will monitor system operational parameters, assess membrane performance and energy efficiency as well as product water quality.
Why did you choose DESAL+ Living Lab as the location for testing your technology?
DESAL+ Living Lab has years of experience and R&D in the field of renewable desalination and its facilities are equipped with the infrastructure suitable for various scale projects. It has a close collaboration and extended network with the different research centres, companies as well as a wide range of institutions that promote collaboration between the public and private sector. This and the abundance of natural resources (wind, sea & sun) makes it a perfect location to validate, demonstrate and actively disseminate W2W project results.
More information:
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/873854
http://www.rainmakerholland.nl/en/
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This project has received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 873854. |
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