polyfluorinated chemicals used in extinguishing agents, pizza boxes and outdoor clothing They pollute the environment because they do not break down. Cornelsen Umwelttechnologie GmbH from Essen, winner of the NRW Environmental Economy Prize 2022, developed a technology that can be used remove chemicals from water .
Around 80 years ago, researchers developed so-called perfluorinated and polyfluorinated chemicals, known PFAS or PFC They have been produced on an industrial scale since the 1950s . Because of their water, grease and dirt-repellent properties, they are used in outdoor clothing, fast food packaging, waterproofing sprays and extinguishing agents. The problem: They are extremely persistent, do not break in but instead accumulate. “We were first confronted with this topic in the mid-2000s,” reports Dr.-Ing. Martin Cornelsen, founder and managing director of Cornelsen Umwelttechnologie GmbH in Essen. larger concentration was discovered and the emission could be traced back via the Ruhr and Möhne to the Hochsauerland district. There, arable land was contaminated - apparently materials containing PFAS, disguised as “biofertilizer ,” had found their way into the soil. PFAS was also detected in high concentrations in Mittelbaden in 2012. It had reached the fields via compost mixed with paper sludge. According to Cornelsen, a ban is now being considered at EU level. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly clear to what extent PFAS has accumulated in the environment and in organisms over the decades and in how many products and manufacturing processes PFAS are used.
“We get involved where there is no off-the-shelf solution.”
in 2001 . Core topic: Processes, systems and services for the treatment of contaminated water. The team has now grown to around 25 employees , with a further 15 working in a subsidiary in England . “We get involved where there is no off-the-shelf solution,” says the water management engineer and doctor of process engineering. For example, according to Cornelsen, there was no solution : “With conventional cleaning technologies, these substances can hardly be removed from water and wastewater.”
This awakened his ambition. And so the interdisciplinary team around Cornelsen and the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT worked together to find a way to do it. With success : In order to eliminate PFAS from the environment , the Essen-based company uses a different but green chemical that degrades itself biologically - i.e. in an environmentally neutral way . The molecules of the green chemical combine with the pollutant. new substance is created , so to speak, but now with a different solubility behavior . “It is precipitated as flakes and can simply be filtered out of the water,” explains Cornelsen. The technology, for which the company has exclusive rights to use, can remove PFAS from liquid media, groundwater, drinking water and even soil. Very uncomplicated – without complex system technology. burned at high temperatures in appropriate disposal plants .
The cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT in Oberhausen shows: “We have a great, densely networked university and institute landscape here in North Rhine-Westphalia, which is an important basis for collaboration in research and development, especially for innovative small and medium-sized companies like us,” praises Cornelsen. The entrepreneur also values Greentech.Ruhr , a competence center and networking platform for environmental and climate protection with now over 220 partners . Cornelsen Umwelttechnologie GmbH is one of them. However, Cornelsen is not only involved there, but is also involved as a member of the general assembly of the Essen Chamber of Commerce and Industry . The impulse for both engagements is the same: “I advocate for strong networking here at the business location and for many more companies, especially smaller ones, to get to know and use the diverse cooperation opportunities that universities and research institutes offer them, for example.” In 2022 the Cornelsen Environmental Technology received the NRW Environmental Economics Prize .
This success story of an innovative transformation was published in February 2024. There will be no updates or checks of the information afterwards.
The publication series “Transformation through Innovation” is intended to illustrate how companies in North Rhine-Westphalia have been able to write successful innovation stories thanks to the framework conditions created by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
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