GOALI: Developing a Filtration System for Purification of Contaminated Water

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Vishal ShahDowling CollegeProposal Number: 0735208GOALI: Developing a Filtration System for Purification of Contaminated Water.This proposal deals with the development of a drinking water purification system that can simultaneously remove different categories of contaminants including organics, inorganics, and pathogens. Possible applications of the system are remote areas where a central water treatment system is not available and developed areas during disaster events. The system relies on Fenton's reaction as a treatment technology.Copper and other transition metals will be examined as a catalyst in the reaction instead of iron as in traditional Fenton's reagent which is effective only at pH 2-4.Copper based Fenton's reagent can work at pH 3-9 which is the key advantage of the proposed system. The metal catalyst will be bound to an ion exchange resin to prevent its presence in the product water. The binding of the catalyst onto the resin will be devised in a way that the resin has the exchange capacity left for removing metal contaminants. Organic contaminants and pathogens will be oxidized by hydroxyl radicals generated from Fenton's reaction. The proposed work is divided into three phases. First, potential catalysts will be tested for intrinsic reaction kinetics, mass transfer limitations, stability, and leaching. Then, based on the most suitable catalyst identified in the previous phase, a prototype system will be designed, constructed, and operated. In the meantime, a mathematical model to predict the performance of the system will be developed. Results provided by the prototype and the mathematical model will be compared. Finally, risk analysis and economic evaluation will be conducted.