Novel Method for Ferrate Production

This Phase I project is concerned with the development of a simple, cost-effective, environmentally friendly process for the production of potassium ferrate. Lynntech, Inc.'s proposed method can be readily scaled up for the production of industrial quantities of this extremely useful oxidant. Ferrate is an environmentally friendly oxidant that represents an ideal substitute for other oxidants, particularly chromate and chlorine, which are of environmental concern. Ferrate has the benefit of being "environmentally safe" because the iron product is simply ferric oxide (i.e., rust). Although the oxidation reactions with ferrate appear to be similar to those known for MnO4 and CrO42 , ferrate exhibits greater functional group selectivity in its oxidations and generally reacts to produce a cleaner reaction product. The use of ferrate, FeO42 , promises a safe, convenient, versatile, and cost-effective alternative to current approaches for water and wastewater treatment. Ferrate is a useful alternative to chlorine in water disinfection because toxic chlorinated byproducts are not formed. The endproduct formed using ferrate for oxidation reactions is Fe(OH)3, which is a precipitate that is well known for adsorbing heavy metals from waste solutions as well as various industrial applications.