Aqueous Electrostatic Concentrator to Remove Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances from Water

This proposal addresses the need for a pre-treatment technology to remove per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from industrial wastewaters. Phase I involves the design, build and testing of a novel technology to remove PFAS from water, termed the Aqueous Electrostatic Concentrator (AEC). This technology will be tested as an electrical bench-scale device that concentrates PFAS through selective separation of PFAS in water matrices, with the goal of removing PFAS to below EPA-recommended human health levels. The technical feasibility of the concept is based on the electrical properties of the PFAS, and is similar in principal to electrostatic precipitation and electro-separation technologies. Once sufficiently concentrated, the PFAS can be treated with complementary unit operations (e.g., GAC beds) to destroy or capture these compounds for recycling. The AEC technology is expected to be quickly adopted for tertiary treatment of industrial wastewaters. The end users will be industries, particularly textile, coating formulation, and industrial facilities undergoing remediation for PFAS. The market size is expected to be 1,315 facilities. Competing technologies are primarily GAC, with ion exchange and advanced oxidation processes (AOP) to a lesser extent. AEC can be used together with these technologies, particularly GAC and AOP to provide treatment synergies.