QRDI and Hassad Foods, are driving innovation within Qatar to utilize water more efficiently with the goal of reducing the pressures on local reservoirs and irrigation systems.
Hassad Foods invites proposals from Startups, SMEs, and Corporates for technologies which target Atmospheric Water Harvesting in Harsh Environments. Hassad Foods are looking for low cost, low energy innovative solutions which address the unique climate conditions present within Qatar where humidity varies during the year from 30 – 90% and temperatures from 10-50°C.
Water Resource Management is one of the key strategic challenges identified by the World Bank where there is significant risk of a 40% global shortfall by 2030. Qatar’s National Vision 2030 emphasises the importance of environmental development as the nation is forced to deal with local environmental issues, such as the impact of diminishing water resources. In line with these ambitions, Hassad Food is aiming to find new, sustainable, and economically viable sources of water in Qatar.
Currently, the two major sources in Qatar include desalinated water (from aquifers or seawater), and Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE). Despite their importance, water desalination activities have several drawbacks, including high cost, energy intensiveness, and overall suboptimal ecological footprint. Moreover, extraction of aquifer water for open field irrigation lowers the volume of water in the aquifer allowing rock salts to dissolve in a lesser water quantity thus increasing overall salinity, which puts emphasis on finding a long-term and sustainable water resource.
Hassad Food farms utilize up to 120,000L /Ha of water per day and, due to supply issues, a shortfall of upto 35% is observed during the extremes of temperature and humidity.
Hassad Food are interested in technology solutions (TRL: 3-8) which can extract water from the environment for applications in the following scenarios
Small “mobile” water harvesters for local / single users
Large “centralized” water harvesting for several users
The proposed technologies must be able to work in the stipulated temperature ranges and also be compatible with current power sources and NOT require major design reconstruction of the local power supplies or farms. Ideal scenarios would enable easy future integration with renewable energy sources including solar panels etc.
Hassad Food is open to all solutions from industry, as long as a clear understanding of the method and requirements for upscaling are detailed and the proposed technology is currently at minimum TRL=3.
Key success Criteria
Hassad Foods are interested in all technologies that address the following key technical criteria
Operate in variable ambient air temperatures = 10-50°C
Operate in Relative Humidity = 30-70% with highs of 90%
Scalable solution that produces up to ~12,000L per day.
Long life span (potential for up to 10years)
Environmentally friendly solutions
Carbon neutral energy (or roadmap to achieve this)
No toxic emissions / harmful refrigerants etc
TRL 3 – 8 with potential for pilot development within Qatar
Possible Approaches
Possible approaches might include, but are not limited to:
Water reclamation technologies
Heat pumps
Compact
High capacity systems
Water extraction based on adsorption / desorption
Water extraction using biomimetics
Condensation phenomenon (cooling of air)
Heat exchangers, evaporators, condensers
Approaches not of Interest
Technologies/methods which are not resistant to extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures, high humidity and sandstorms
Technologies/methods which are not cost-effective
Technologies/methods that harm the environment or generate large amounts of CO2 during processing with no mitigation such as CCU.
Items to be submitted
Executive summary
Detailed description of technology and potential application
Proof of concept data (if any)
Development roadmap and requirement
What is new or different about the approach / technology
Overview of company / team
Note: Selected proposals will work with QRDI and Hassad Food to assess the proposal’s business case during the evaluation phase. Proposed solutions should be economically viable and will be evaluated from both a technical and economic perspective
Awards:-
All financial and contractual terms to be negotiated between Solution Provider(s), QRDI and Hassad Foods.
Ownership of new Intellectual Property (if any) to be equitably determined in phase 2 of the project in direct discussions with QRDI and Hassad Foods.
Deadline:- 07-04-2022
