Ecocapsule s.r.o.
Development of innovative systems for greywater purification and highly efficient water heating
About the company and the project impact
Ecocapsule is a company from Slovakia active in producing smart and self-sustainable micro-units. The micro-unit allows its users to stay in remote places out of reach of infrastructure in the luxury of a hotel room. The micro-units can become a cottage, pop-up hotel, mobile office, research station or anything the user wants it to be. The company was founded in 2017 and has since developed a compact mobile home that does not need to be plugged into the traditional power and water supply as it is self-sustaining and can generate both resources from the surrounding environment.
The goal of the project was to make Ecocapsule even more suitable for use as a small housing unit and a mobile home. The key challenges were processing wastewater, managing energy use, minimising energy demand, minimising the product’s impact on the environment, reaching demanding applications/markets, waste management, residual pollution and resource efficiency.
Ecocapsule s.r.o., Slovakia | www.ecocapsule.skKET Technology
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Micro-/nano-electronics
- Advanced Materials
Countries involved
- Slovakia
- Portugal
- Spain
Outcome
Within the KET4CP funded project, a greywater treatment system and MHPWH were designed and implemented. Also, both the greywater treatment system and the MHPWH were embedded into the Ecocapsule prototype and tested. Technologies developed within this project enable Ecocapsule to function in limiting conditions and with low impact on the environment, thus widening its scope of usage.
Low energy consumption and minimal waste production increase Ecocapsule’s sustainability, minimise its impact on the environment and decrease maintenance demands. By completely abandoning the ineffective resistive heater technology and using a heat pump instead, the company achieved a significant increase in energy efficiency. Greywater filtration, although not yet greywater reuse, enables Ecocapsule to be used with zero dependencies on sanitation infrastructure without the use of disposable filters.
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Key success factors
The KET4CP micro-grant helped the company reach emerging technologies in key areas for their product, which is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.
The KET4CP also helped spark the company’s interest in European projects supporting R&D oriented SMEs. It helped the company widen their scope, as well as its network of potential partners and contractors in research and development. The company plans to explore similar opportunities in the future.
Corresponding KETs Technology Centre:
International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory| Braga, Portugal
EnergyLab Technology centre | Vigo (Pontevedra) ,Spain
