Author: smacumed_admin

SmaCuMed presents on two International Conferences

Members of SmaCuMed presented their most recent results on two renowned international conferences in November 2022.

The first visit was on the Euro-Mediterranean Conference for Environmental Integration (EMCEI22), in the first week of the month in the SmaCuMed Partner-country Tunisia in the city of Sousse.

Two different presentation were held. One by Abdelkarim Hdoufane of the Cady Ayyad University Marrakesh about the “Effects of Irrigation on the Phenology of Natural Populations of Argania Spinosa (L.) Skeels” and the other by Edgardo Canas Kurz from Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences about the “Comparison of Solar Powered MCDI and RO Desalination for Mediterranean Agriculture”.

Being able to join the conference meant not only to dissiminate the results of the SmaCuMed project, but also have many very fruitful discussions about the Water-Energy-Food-Nexus in North-African countries with many dedicated researchers on this field on an international level and thus many new valueable contact could be set up.

Edgardo Kurz presenting desalination results (Photo: Ulrich Hellriegel)
Abdelkarim Hdoufane presenting phenology results (Photo: Ulrich Hellriegel)

The second visit was dedicated to the 40th anniversary edition of the Euromembrane 2022 conference, which was held in Sorrento, Italy.

The internationally well-known congress was the stage for showcasing findings of first years pilot trials of the SmartCubes performance in Essaouira, Morocco. This time the talk was indexed in the session for Electromembranes, where specialists for electro dialysis and capacitive deionization shared the most recent research.

Ulrich Hellriegel presenting first years pilot results (Photo: Edgardo Canas Kurz)
The frame of the session for Electromembranes (Photo: Uiara Peixeiro)

Geospatial Multi-Criteria Approach for ranking Smart-Cube Implementation

Researchers of the Centre de Recherches et des Technologies des Eaux (CERTE) developed a multi-criteria approach for ranking potential aquifers for the application of our Smart-Cube and other desalination systems on the example of Tunisa.

The scientific paper was published in the Journal Sustainability. You can access and download the Open Access publication here: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/13/8113

Figure 5. Spatial distribution of suitability index variation for the installation of (a) SmaIrriCubeEff and (b) SmaIrriCubeAcc systems (Mehdaoui, et al. 2022)

International Conference in Tunisia

The International Conference on : Soil and Water resources management for combating Desertification in Drylands under Climate Change (SWDCC 2022) took place from 4 to 17 June 2022 in Djerba Island, Tunisia.

The major themes of the conference were the following:

  • Climate Change : Vulnerability and adaptation in drylands.
  • Water resources mobilization and management.
  • Soil degradation and conservation.
  • Environmental monitoring and assessment in drylands.
  • And Geology, geo-resources and environment.

SmaCuMed partners from Moulay Ismail University presented during this event an oral communication entitled: “Use of myccorhization and Biochar amendment as a strategy for improving the drought and salinity tolerance in date palm (phoenix dactylifera L.” showing the results of their research on date palm seedlings.

The presentation took place on Tuesday 15/06/2022 during the session “Soil degradation and conservation”.

More information on the event you can find here: SWDCC 2022

Smart Cube demonstration at our pilot site

During our second training session on March 04 + 05 we visited our pilot site in Essaouira to showcase and demonstrate the all-in-one Smart Cube technology on-site.

The working principle of SmaCuMed desalination technologies MCDI and low-pressure RO and the utilization of different water and soil sensors for IoT-based monitoring were shown to all participants.

We will keep you posted on up-coming events!

SmaCuMed – 2nd trainings session

Our project is dedicated to the efficient desalination of groundwater for sustainable agriculture in the Mediterranean region. Our goal is not only to develope sustainable concepts and technologies, but also to aise awareness on the environmental impacts of SmaCuMed on water management and irrigation, boost capacity building and best practice sharing between farmers, managers, stakeholders and the scientific community, and the transfer of technical knowledge.

In order to achieve these goals, training sessions on-site (living-lab) of sustainable water treatment facilities are planed. On March 4 and 5, 2022 our second training session will be held in a two-day event on-site.

The training courses will be focusing on the areas of “desalination using regenerative energies” and “real-time monitoring in agriculture”. Furthermore, the second part of the 1st training on “solar energy system for desalination” will take place. The trainings will be given by project partners, the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (Germany)., Aquagri Ltd (Lisbon, Portugal) and Raach Solar (Erolzheim, Germany).

The trainings will take place in Marrakesh, at the Cadi Ayyad University and will include a visit to the first SmacuMed pilot plant, which was installed in October 2021 in Essaouira, Morocco. The system is used to irrigate argan trees in a coastal region west of Marrakesh, Morocco.


For more information about the upcoming trainings you can download the trainings flyer and programme here.

Update: Materials and pictures on our second trainings sessions are available here

ESEE 2021 Conference – Leeuwarden

SmaCuMed presented the latest results on membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) research by Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA) at the 12th Symposium on Electrochemical Engineering in Leeuwarden, Netherlands (14th – 17th of June, 2021).

With the scope in “Electrochemistry for electrification and energy transition toward a sustainable future”, the ESEE 2021 is Europe’s largest conference on electrochemical engineering and thus a perfect platform for getting to know international researchers on MCDI and deepen discussions on the latest results and operation recommendations.

In an online talk in the session “Capacitive deionization and supercapacitors”, Ulrich Hellriegel (HKA) pointed out findings of theoretical and pilot trial studies of energy efficient desalination with MCDI and furthermore highlighted its importance for sustainable agriculture in Morocco.

Book of abstracts:

http://www.electrochemical-engineering.eu/2021/admin/scripts/source/ESEE21-book-of-abstracts.pdf

Ulrich Hellriegel – Energy efficient desalination with MCDI (HKA)

Une journée d’information – Save the Date

The fist SmaCuMed information session carried out by SmaCuMed teams from the Cadi Ayyad University took place last Tuesday, June 23 at the Ecóle Supérieure de Technologie d’Essouira.

Attendees from different sectors joined the Session where Argan and agriculture in Essaouira was the main focus.

The next date in our Calendar is July 26-27 – The first SmaCuMed international workshop on Innovative Solutions for Water Use in Agriculture- The workshop will be held with international presentations on water and land managment – and it will include two trainings from German and Portuguese partners on solar energy systems and IoT aided irrigation.

More information will be available soon!