Scotland the Hydro Nation: annual report 2017

Hydro Nation – Innovation: Developing New Technologies

Our Innovation strategy is designed to support Scottish businesses to bring new products to market through the Hydro Nation Water Innovation Service ( HNWIS), including provision of advice, research, and testing facilities to trial new products, as well certification and accreditation. This strategy links HNWIS into the support from SEPA in association with the James Hutton Institute in the development of water innovation through their work to support the European Commission Environmental Technology Verification Standard ( ETV) and International Organization for Standardization ( ISO) activities on ETV.

The International Working Group on ETV meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 2017; the James Hutton Institute were in attendance

This Innovation strategy is supported by SEPA in association with the James Hutton Institute in the development of water innovation through their work to support ETV and the International Organisation for Standardisation ( ISO) activities on ETV. ETV is an important tool used to evaluate the claims of environmental technologies and enables technology providers and innovators to independently demonstrate the value of their products. November 2016 saw the publication of ISO14034:2016, the ISO international Standard and this has now been adopted by the UK as BS: ISO14034:2016. There is a consultation on the adoption of the standard at the EU level and it is expected that the standard will be adopted by September 2017. SEPA, DEFRA and the James Hutton Institute are involved in ongoing work to develop an international technical report on the implementation of ISO14034:2016.

After three years of operation of The European Commission Environmental Technology Verification Pilot Programme a total of 17 verifications have been completed, 62 technologies have initiated the verification process and 175 applications have been submitted. The verifications have been issued in the three technology areas of the pilot Programme:' Materials, Waste and Resources', Water Treatment and Monitoring, and 'Energy Technologies'. All ETV Verification Statements are registered and published on the European Commission website https://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap/etv/verified-technologies_en which allows stakeholders to check references relating to ETV verifications in a transparent process.

The ETV Pilot Programme has enabled a large-scale experiment of ETV in near-real conditions. On the basis of the upcoming evaluation, conclusions will be drawn on the potential of ETV in Europe and on the best way to mobilise it in an economically sustainable way. Different options for a possible ETV scheme will be considered together with improvements to the functioning of the ETV as operated under the Pilot Programme. To support the evaluation, an open public consultation will take place over a duration of minimum 12 weeks. The roadmap of ETV evaluation together with a consultation strategy will be published in the coming weeks on the website of DG Environment. The formal EU ETV evaluation will be completed in the Autumn 2017, with results available to the public.

Hydro Nation Water Innovation Service ( HNWIS): Supporting Innovation

HNWIS has entered the final year of the current service contract. In Year 2, Quarter 2 HNWIS reported that the key target of Formally Engaging with 50 companies had already been achieved ahead of schedule. Due to the unexpectedly high level of demand and subsequent number of applications from Scottish companies for assistance (128), the decision was taken in December 2016 to temporarily close the Service to new applicants until further notice. This is to ensure the main focus of activity is on the review and assessment of the customers currently within the Service and allow better identification of those who are likely to achieve the primary aim of getting new innovative products or services to market more quickly.

Engaged Companies sector breakdown

Hydro International successfully tested their Hydro-Brake Drop flow control in Scotland at Bo'ness Development Centre. The challenge was that Hydro International needed to validate existing design assumptions and to extend the design range of the Hydro-Brake® Drop.

The study had three main objectives:

• To assess the rate of air entrainment over the various operating modes, in order to accurately predict system pneumatics.
• To quantify oxygenation potential of the system and its impact on hydrogen sulfide levels.
• To evaluate new inlet configurations in order to expand the range of scenarios in which the Hydro-Brake® Drop flow control may be applied.

The solution involved Scottish Water Horizons liaising with site operatives to ensure the equipment could be trialled in a suitable location on site. Prior to arrival at site, Scottish Water Horizons assisted Hydro International with all pre-trial requirements and conducted a thorough Health and Safety review to ensure all risks were mitigated or managed appropriately. Once operational, Scottish Water Horizons regularly engaged with Hydro International to ensure that the trial requirements were being met on site.

The test, which took place in June 2016, involved two instrumentation systems attached to the test rig monitored its performance for over 70 hours of testing and provided data validation for the readings collected.

The results showed that for the configurations and flow rates tested the Hydro-Brake Drop flow control was shown to significantly aerate the flow passing through it. The rate of air entrainment was shown to be predictable and consistent over the whole range of configurations and flow conditions tested. This confirmed that the different configurations performed as predicted and allowed further extension of the applications for which the Hydro-Brake Drop flow control can be designed.