Water Decontamination Using Ozone Microplasma Technology

This proposal addresses the Army"s requirements outlined in the solicitation for an efficient and portable water decontamination technology to achieve optimum water re-use for field operations by reducing contaminant levels in the wash, rinse and discharge streams of the mobile kitchen sanitation center. An effective approach is the use of ozone, a powerful oxidizing gas capable of broadly neutralizing harmful species in gaseous and aqueous forms. In particular, microplasma-based ozone generation technology can be adapted for portable water-purification and the removal of toxic contaminants. Microplasmas are attractive due to the high reactivity of the excited species. The primary components of the proposed system are a microplasma ozone generator and a multichannel gas-liquid micro-reactor for ozonolysis. The microplasma ozone generator has the potential for high conversion rates of air to ozone and the micro-reactor offers high mass transfer and reactivity for decontamination of wastewater with low power consumption in a compact and easily scalable modular design. The Phase I effort has demonstrated the effectiveness of ozone to provide the highly efficient and adaptable decontamination technology required by the Army and this proposal illustrates a roadmap for further development of the integrated system for a comprehensive solution for the Army"s needs.