Architecture
Client Within the Life Sciences Sector
9
Projects
£168,046
Secured in R&D Tax Credits
Project Examples
Wastewater Treatment for Hydrocarbon Effluents
A business operating within the environmental technology sector undertook a research and development programme to develop an improved treatment process for heavily contaminated industrial wastewater. Existing biological and chemical treatment approaches presented limitations when dealing with highly variable contaminant compositions, elevated dissolved solids and significant processing volumes.
The development team investigated how different treatment stages could be combined to create a more reliable process while operating within practical constraints relating to system footprint, energy consumption and secondary waste generation. Technical uncertainties existed around the characteristics of the incoming wastewater, the effectiveness of different treatment mechanisms and how individual stages would interact when operated as an integrated process.
Laboratory experimentation, pilot-scale testing and process modelling were used to evaluate alternative treatment configurations. The team investigated combinations of oxidation, separation and solids-management techniques, refining process parameters through successive development cycles. This work established an integrated treatment approach capable of substantially reducing key pollutants and overall toxicity while improving operational reliability compared with conventional treatment methods.
Osmotic-Assisted Reverse Osmosis for Enhanced Desalination
The business also undertook a separate research and development project to improve the efficiency of industrial desalination and water-recovery systems. The objective was to increase freshwater recovery and reduce concentrated wastewater volumes while controlling energy consumption, system footprint and the operating life of key components.
The technical challenges included determining how different treatment stages and membrane configurations could be combined effectively when processing water with high and variable dissolved-solids concentrations. Further uncertainty existed around how system pressures, selective pre-treatment and membrane arrangements would influence recovery rates, energy requirements and long-term performance.
The team carried out systematic experimentation, modelling and iterative design to investigate alternative system configurations. Different treatment arrangements and membrane strategies were evaluated to establish how water recovery and concentration performance could be improved without creating unacceptable operational or maintenance requirements.
The resulting development demonstrated that significant improvements in water recovery and resource efficiency could be achieved through an optimised treatment configuration, providing a more practical approach for applications where conventional desalination methods presented limitations.
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In the 2023–24 tax year alone, UK businesses claimed £7.6 billion in R&D tax relief across 46,950 claims. If your business is investing in innovation, you could be eligible too.
Book a free consultation with our team and we’ll help you uncover qualifying activities, identify eligible costs, and understand how much you could claim.
