The NanoMemPro IPPC database focus the operations where membranes are introduced as Best Available Techniques in the industrial areas addressed by the IPPC Directive. The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive was adopted by the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the E ...

on September 24, 1996. It defines the obligations with which highly polluting industrial and agricultural activities must comply. It establishes a procedure for authorizing these activities: a permit is issued if certain environmental conditions are met. The IPPC Directive aims to minimise pollution from various sources throughout the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(it concerns both new and existing installations). To do so, all industrial installations covered by the Annex I of the IPPC Directive (see ) are required to obtain an authorisation (permit) from the authorities in the EU countries before they are allowed to operate. The permits granted must be based on the concept of

Best Available Techniques The best available technology or best available techniques (BAT) is the technology approved by legislators or regulators for meeting output standards for a particular process, such as pollution abatement. Similar terms are ''best practicable means ...

(or BAT).

Features

The IPPC Directive covers 33 industrial sectors where in almost all of them membrane processes appear as BAT, not only as an end-of-pipe solution for effluent treatment but mainly as a part of the industrial production processes. Membrane process integration play a crucial role, depending on the industrial sector in which they are integrated, and these roles may be: * Confinement of pollutants in concentrate streams (that may be further treated by destructive processes), * Permeate recycle or re-use in the industrial process, thus reducing water input and discharge, * Water recycling and effluent minimization, tending to zero discharge industrial processes. The IPPC Database was designed by the NanoMemPro Network of Excellence to focus the operations where membranes are introduced as BAT in the industrial areas addressed by the IPPC Directive documents. The Database built allows any user to search information upon the following criteria: * Membrane process (

Reverse Osmosis Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a partially permeable membrane to separate ions, unwanted molecules and larger particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pre ...

Nanofiltration Nanofiltration is a membrane filtration process used most often to soften and disinfect water. Overview Nanofiltration is a Membrane technology, membrane filtration-based method that uses nanometer sized pores through which particles smaller t ...

, ''etc''.), * Industrial sector (

Pulp and Paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as a paper web an ...

Textile Industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

, ''etc''.), * State of Reference document approval (BREF, DRAFT, ''etc''.). The information states which membrane processes are defined as a BAT in a given industrial sector and what is the application/purpose of that membrane process(es). When accessing the Database, one can enter a username and password. This password insertion is used only by the database manager. To view and search the information of the database, just press the OK button, ignoring the password insertion procedure. This IPPC Database is available in the NanoMemPro website.

References

{{reflist European Union law Membrane technology Scientific databases