PFI:AIR - TT: High Throughput Plasma Water Purifier

这个PFI: AIR技术翻译项目的重点是翻译以水净化为目的的等离子体与液态水相互作用的研究。这种水净化方法将满足对能够去除有毒化学物质（如药物、化学废物和农药）的技术的需求，这些有毒化学物质不能用传统方法有效地去除。这种高通量净水器很重要，因为它有可能去除水中的大多数有机污染物，并对水中的有害病毒和细菌进行消毒。该技术可用于水再利用应用，其中废水可以用等离子体方法处理，将污染物水平降低到最大允许浓度以下，从而可以用于饮用水和非饮用水应用（如锅炉水、洗车和消防）。这种能力使社区能够抵御干旱，甚至化学品泄漏。该技术还具有降低工业成本和相关环境破坏的潜力，因为它可以将剧毒废水处理到可以在工厂重复使用的程度。该项目将产生一个高通量等离子净化器的原型，并将在实际的市政和工业污水处理厂测试等离子净化器，以展示在实际环境中的功能和可扩展性。高通量等离子净化器具有以下独特功能：1)可扩展性，2)它不需要消耗品操作，3)它驱动水中的多种化学过程，迅速减少二氧化碳和水的污染物。这些特性提供了性能优势，例如污染物的快速分解和成本节约，不需要有毒氯或过氧化氢等消耗品，提供高电气和化学转换效率，并提供易于实施，从使用点应用到作为模块集成到实际的水处理厂。支持水处理应用的传统高级氧化方法需要使用有毒消耗品来驱动专门的反应来产生氧化剂，以及容纳和应用化学品的基础设施。高通量净化器使用常规空气产生用于水处理的等离子体，从而消除了对昂贵的消耗品的需求以及存储和应用此类化学品的基础设施的相关费用。该项目解决了可扩展性的技术差距，因为它从研究发现转化为商业应用。虽然等离子体水处理在过去已经进行了研究，具有令人印象深刻的分解效率，但其广泛应用仍然难以捉摸。这在很大程度上是由于难以将实验室演示从固定体积的10s ml扩展到一次性流动水应用中的10s升/分钟。该反应器的关键创新是水的几何解构，使流经反应器的水的等离子体覆盖范围最大化。表面等离子体与水发生反应，产生自由基，随后处理核心水。在执行这项计划的过程中，本科生和研究生将接受应用科学、技术翻译、产品开发和创业方面的培训。这项工作还将管理一个以K-12学生为对象的实践技术讲习班，重点是妇女和代表性不足的少数民族，探讨先进的水处理和创业精神。该项目有许多重要的合作伙伴参与。这些合作伙伴包括一家市政污水厂，一家市政饮用水厂，一家半导体制造公司，以及两家设计饮用水和污水厂的工程咨询公司，以及国家卫生基金会。通过这种方式，将为该项目提供市政饮用水和废水、工业废水以及先进的水测试设施，支持在相关测试环境中进行试点，并在将研究发现转化为商业现实的技术工作中，根据公认的标准评估处理的有效性。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating research on plasma interaction with liquid water for the purpose of water purification. This approach to water purification will address the need for technologies with the capability of removing toxic chemicals such as pharmaceuticals, chemical waste products, and pesticides that can not be effectively removed using conventional means.  This high throughput water purifier is important because it has the potential to remove most organic contaminants from water as well as to disinfect the water of harmful viruses and bacteria. The technology can be used in water reuse applications where wastewater can be treated with this plasma method to reduce contaminant levels well below maximum allowable concentrations so that it can be utilized for both potable (drinking) and non-potable applications (such as boiler water, car washing and firefighting). This capability makes communities resilient against drought and even chemical spills. The technology also has the potential to reduce industrial costs and associated environmental damage by treating highly toxic wastewater to the point where it can be reused at the factory.  This project will result in a prototype high throughput plasma purifier and will test the plasma purifier at actual municipal and industrial wastewater plants to demonstrate function and scalability in a real setting. The high throughput plasma purifier has the following unique features: 1) scalability, 2) it does not require consumables to operate, and 3) it drives a multitude of chemical processes in water that rapidly reduce contaminants to carbon dioxide and water. These features provide the advantages of performance, e.g. rapid decomposition of contaminants and cost savings, does not require consumables such as toxic chlorine or peroxide, offers high electrical and chemical conversion efficiency, and provides ease of implementation ranging from point-of-use applications to integration as modules into an actual water treatment plant.  Conventional advanced oxidation methods supporting water treatment applications require the use of toxic consumables to drive specialized reactions to generate oxidants as well as the infrastructure to house and apply the chemicals. The high throughput purifier produces plasma for water treatment using regular air thereby eliminating the need for costly consumables and the associated expense of infrastructure to store and apply such chemicals. This project addresses the technology gap of scalability as it translates from research discovery toward commercial application. Though plasma-based water treatment has been investigated in the past, with impressive decomposition efficiencies, its widespread application has remained elusive. This is due largely to the difficulty in scaling up beyond laboratory demonstration of 10s of ml in fixed volumes to the 10s of liters/min in once-through, flowing water applications. The key innovation of this reactor is the geometrical deconstruction of water into a form such that plasma coverage of water flowing through the reactor is maximized. The surface plasma reacts with the water generating radicals that subsequently treat the core water. In the course of executing this proposed effort, undergraduate and graduate students will be trained in applied science, technology translation, product development, and entrepreneurship. This effort will also administer a hands-on technical workshop aimed at K-12 students with focus on women and under-represented minorities that explores advanced water treatment and entrepreneurship.The project engages a number of key partners. These partners include the a municipal waste water plant, a municipal drinking water plant, a semiconductor manufacturing company, and two engineering consultancies that actually design drinking and waste water plants, and the National Sanitation Foundation. In this manner, municipal drinking water and wastewater, industrial wastewater, and advanced water testing facilities will be made available to this project supporting piloting in a relevant test environment and assessing the effectiveness of treatment based on accepted standards in this technology translation effort from research discovery toward commercial reality.