PFI:AIR - TT: High Throughput Plasma Water Purifier

这个PFI：空气技术翻译项目专注于翻译等离子体与液态水相互作用以净水为目的的研究。这种净水方法将满足对能够去除传统方法无法有效去除的药品、化学废物和杀虫剂等有毒化学物质的技术的需求。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，并对水中有害病毒和细菌进行消毒。该技术可用于水再利用应用中，废水可用这种等离子体方法处理，以将污染物水平降低到远低于最大允许浓度，从而既可用于饮用水(饮用水)，也可用于非饮用水应用(如锅炉水、洗车和消防)。这种能力使社区对干旱甚至化学品泄漏具有弹性。该技术还具有降低工业成本和相关环境破坏的潜力，方法是将剧毒废水处理到可在工厂重复使用的程度。该项目将产生高通量等离子体净化器原型，并将在实际市政和工业废水处理厂测试等离子体净化器，以在真实环境中展示功能和可扩展性。高通量等离子体净化器具有以下独特功能：1)可伸缩性，2)它不需要耗材来操作，3)它驱动水中的多种化学过程，迅速将污染物减少到二氧化碳和水。这些功能提供了性能优势，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，并提供从使用点应用到作为模块集成到实际水处理厂的易于实施。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，以及储存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，从而消除了对昂贵消耗品的需求，以及存储和应用此类化学品的相关基础设施费用。该项目解决了可伸缩性的技术差距，因为它从研究发现转化为商业应用。尽管基于等离子体的水处理过去已经被研究过，具有令人印象深刻的分解效率，但它的广泛应用仍然难以捉摸。这在很大程度上是因为很难从实验室演示的固定体积的10s毫升扩大到一次性流动水应用的10s升/分钟。这种反应堆的关键创新是对水进行几何分解，使流经反应堆的水的等离子体覆盖率达到最大。表面等离子体与水生成的自由基反应，随后处理岩心水。在执行这项拟议工作的过程中，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。这项工作还将举办一个针对K-12学生的实践技术讲习班，重点是妇女和代表性不足的少数群体，探索先进的水处理和创业。这些合作伙伴包括一家城市污水处理厂、一家城市饮用水厂、一家半导体制造公司、两家实际设计饮用水和废水处理厂的工程咨询公司，以及国家卫生基金会。通过这种方式，将为该项目提供城市饮用水和废水、工业废水和先进的水质检测设施，以支持在相关测试环境中进行试点，并根据这项技术从研究发现向商业现实的转化过程中公认的标准来评估处理效果。

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.