Behind the gesture of turning on the water tap at home is a complex world of architecture and engineering, which allow us to have drinking water in our homes. According to UN data, 1.4 billion people do not have drinking water, therefore, it is necessary to become aware of the processes that allow us to have quality drinking water in sufficient quantity . A topic that comes from a long time ago, specifically it was the Romans who understood the importance of the functionality of architecture and engineering. One of their great concerns was to supply water to cities, and today our great concern is to guarantee the potability of water for mass consumption . But each solution generates a new problem to be solved, and only in this way does our society progress.
For water to reach our homes, many phases of a long process are required, but we will focus on two of them: purification and distribution, and how they affect each other . The set of treatments that allow water to be suitable for human consumption are very varied, one of them is disinfection. The fact is that in the last twenty years, the aggressiveness of products to disinfect water has increased, and this directly affects the resistance of the materials that transport it . We only need to analyze the obsolescence of materials as the disinfection processes become increasingly aggressive. The average life of pipes that transport drinking water has gone from fifty years to the current ten or fifteen, so we can say that pipes are 70% less durable than twenty years ago.
Italsan is a leading company in the manufacture, distribution and after-sales service of plastic pipe systems. Like all manufacturers of this type of material, it seeks materials to conduct water that are sustainable, but also profitable. They share the same concern with consumers and water suppliers: guaranteeing the quality of the water . For this reason, they understand better than anyone that to ensure the potability of water, a double mechanism must be established: first guaranteeing the quality of the water, and then ensuring the resistance of the materials that transport it, thus maintaining the maximum quality until the consumer . For this reason, they are developing a research project within the framework of Industrial Doctorates, offering a solution for the materials that transport water, protecting their resistance against increasingly aggressive disinfection processes.
To understand the project a little better and learn about their experience with the Industrial Doctorates, we wanted to talk to the three protagonists: Laura Sánchez as the company manager in the project, Ines Fernandez as thesis director and Josep Maria Ferrer as an industrial doctoral student.
What motivated you to carry out this project?
Laura Sánchez: We believe that a fundamental part of any product's life cycle is knowing how it responds to our expectations throughout its useful life. After more than thirty years in thermoplastic systems for the conduction of water for human consumption, we have been able to detect critical points to test improvements within the materials themselves . The motivation for the project is to be able to follow the chemistry associated with the first phases of aging with the intention of being able to discover improvement mechanisms in both the product line and the test line.
What new features does this project incorporate?
Laura Sánchez: and Josep Maria Ferrer: on the one hand, the same sample management methodology for physical and chemical conditioning is not common; we are not aware of any similar project either in our field or among the same collaborators . We also want to highlight that at all times we are aware of what is happening in the installation thanks to the ULBIOS Water sound system, through which we have all the real-time data of our contour variables.
What has collaborative research brought to your research work?
Ines Fernández: This collaborative research interests us a lot because it provides us with knowledge of the behavior of these materials in service. This knowledge not only helps our research but also teaching, since we train materials engineers who will work in industry , therefore, we also prepare them better if we know the industry. This research is not foreign to us, our research group is a group with Tecnio accreditation, we have been doing research with companies and training researchers who carried out their research in an area of industrial interest for many years.
What advantage have you found in applied research, what impact is it having on the application of results?
LS: It is incredible how scientific knowledge can make a difference in a market where price has been the most important variable in projects. Science, associated with knowledge of the real needs of customers, has allowed us to position ourselves to provide the most appropriate solutions for each case. Currently, knowing how the pipeline evolves from the beginning provides an intangible value that allows, for example, to be considered trusted partners by many customers when making decisions , both directly and indirectly, related to the product.
As an industrial doctoral student, what has participating in an Industrial Doctorate project given you?
JM: I see the Industrial Doctorate as the culmination of an academic career where the business world has shaped my development since the final stage of my degree . The depth of the study, our demands and the desire for optimization have required us to organize and lead teams of people specialized in different sectors during different stages. Their help, precisely, comes from the heterogeneity of the needs that have been presented so far.
In this way, and in order to fine-tune each subproject, I have been trained on the most general aspects of each collaborator and have been able to learn concepts that transcend our sector . I have always believed that people must trust each other and learn to work as a team, but I have never seen it so clearly as now. In fact, to be honest, I am doing the industrial doctorate thanks to the trust that, from day one, my directors have had in me. Therefore, among everything that the Industrial Doctorate is giving me, I highlight decision-making within a team, collaborating with incredible people and improving my management .
How would you rate your experience with Industrial Doctorates?
IF: My assessment of the Industrial Doctorates is excellent, as it is a fundamental tool for the third mission of the University, which is knowledge transfer . These projects allow us to carry out this knowledge transfer by conducting applied research with the company.
In particular, from the field of materials science and technology, conducting research with the company allows us to acquire essential knowledge, such as being able to evaluate in-service behavior under real operating conditions, in order to make better use of materials and develop new ones.
LS: On the company side, the Industrial Doctorate project brings us closer to research that allows us to be more competitive and gain the trust of our customers as we learn more about the material and its behavior. In this regard, our impression is extraordinary.
