STTR Phase I: Effective Treatment of Groundwater Pollution Using a System Utilizing Controlled Release Polymer Materials

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to develop a technology for remediating contaminated water. These new materials that called controlled release polymer structures (CRPS) are being developed for In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO). ISCO is an advanced remediation technology that has proven efficacy in reducing groundwater pollution. There are currently 1,322 sites on the EPA's National Priorities List where hazardous contaminants have or are expected to be released into the environment. CRPS serves this large $60 billion market with a low-cost, flexible remediation material. This proprietary technology offsets growing water scarcity and aging infrastructure that leads to compromised water sources. Current ISCO methods require using hazardous liquid oxidizers that pose significant worker safety risk and are not effective in all environments. CRPS can be delivered as a solid designed to treat specific contaminated zones over the course of months to years. It is expected that CRPS can transform the remediation industry by: 1) ensuring worker safety, 2) reducing labor costs, 3) allowing sustained, long term treatment decreasing redeployment cost, 3) providing tunability to meet specific site characteristics or toxins, and 4) allowing ISCO to be a more attractive remediation approach due to increased ease of use. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to support scale-up manufacturing and efficacy testing in preparation for field-testing at a contaminated groundwater site. This program will develop and optimize material formulation including active ingredient loading, stability, and handling / transport for commercial use. Likewise, methods amendable to large-scale manufacturing will be investigated as well as performance testing in dynamic flow contaminated water studies. Work will investigate the ability of CRPS to be tuned for controlled release rates under multiple environmental simulations to determine contaminant degradation such as methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). MTBE is used as a fuel additive and is a common groundwater contaminant that results from leaking underground storage tanks. MTBE is particularly problematic due to its solubility and mobility in water as well as environmental persistence. Contaminant degradation by CRPS will be tested over a range of concentrations to yield dose response curves. Collectively, this Phase I program will result in a clear understanding of CRPS performance guiding future pilot scale field studies. Cost and deployment strategies of the CRPS compared to current ISCO remediation technologies will be evaluated in preparation for commercialization