I-Corps: Catalytic membrane to eliminate organic pollutants in industrial wastewater

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种用于破坏工业废水中的有机污染物的催化膜。包括制药、化工、石油和天然气等行业在内的工业部门会产生含有污染物的废物流，这些废物流需要昂贵的能源密集型处理过程。由于日益严重的区域水资源短缺、新的监管限制和股东采取可持续做法的压力，工业运营实施有效的内部处理有几个驱动力。目前存在几种工业废水处理方法，包括膜过滤和活性炭/活性炭吸附。许多工业设施目前使用一种或多种这些技术，在排放到城市污水处理系统之前降低污染物水平。然而，内部处理通常会导致含有污染物的废物流或固体，并且/或者不能完全去除有机污染物。该技术旨在在几分钟内降解有毒有机物。将废水流通过提议的催化膜有效地将有机污染物矿化为CO2和H2O，产生良性废物流，可以回收或直接排放到当地市政当局。这个I-Corps项目有可能彻底改变废水处理，提高处理效率，同时降低成本和能源消耗。I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种催化材料，可用于分解传统水处理工艺无法去除的污染物。使用该技术，有机污染物，如碳氢化合物、药品和增塑剂在几分钟内被破坏，而不需要二次处理。该技术属于高级氧化处理技术（AOPs）的范畴，AOPs是一种水处理方法，旨在通过产生活性自由基来破坏有毒污染物。所提出的催化剂依靠向进水中添加一种廉价的前体盐，在原位迅速产生这些自由基。虽然在某些工业中使用，但目前的AOPs不能完全破坏污染物，导致有毒副产品的产生。此外，市场上的大多数aop都会产生高昂的能源成本，这使得它们对更广泛的行业投资没有吸引力。提出的催化剂和处理方案通过以破纪录的效率几乎完全消除有机污染物，同时保持比行业基准更低的运营成本，从而缓解了这些问题。许多行业在其处理过程中实施这项技术可能会通过降低处理成本、提高水回用能力和更好地满足监管要求而受益。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a catalytic membrane used to destroy organic pollutants in industrial wastewater. Industrial sectors spanning pharmaceuticals, chemicals, oil and gas, among others, produce contaminant-laden waste streams that require costly, energy intensive treatment processes. Due to increasing regional water scarcity, new regulatory restrictions, and shareholder pressure to adopt sustainable practices, there are several driving forces for industrial operations to implement effective, in-house treatment. Several options currently exist for industrial wastewater treatment, including membrane filtration and activated carbon/charcoal adsorption. Many industrial facilities currently use one or more of these technologies to reduce contaminant levels prior to discharge into the municipal wastewater treatment system. However, in-house treatment typically results in contaminant-laden waste streams or solids and/or does not completely remove organic contaminants. The proposed technology is designed to degrade toxic organics within minutes. Passing wastewater streams through the proposed catalytic membrane efficiently mineralizes organic contaminants to CO2 and H2O, creating benign waste streams that may be recycled or directly released into local municipalities. This I-Corps project has the potential to revolutionize wastewater treatment, improving treatment efficacy while simultaneously reducing cost and energy consumption.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a catalytic material that may be used to break down contaminants not removed by conventional water treatment processes. Using the proposed technology, organic pollutants, such as hydrocarbons, pharmaceutical products, and plasticizers are destroyed within minutes without the need for secondary treatments. This technology falls under a category of treatment technologies called advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), which are water treatment methods designed to destroy toxic pollutants via the production of reactive radicals. The proposed catalyst rapidly generates these radicals in-situ, relying on the addition of an inexpensive precursor salt to the influent. Although employed in select industries, current AOPs cannot achieve complete destruction of contaminants, resulting in the production of toxic byproducts. Furthermore, most AOPs in the market incur high energy costs, rendering them unattractive for wider industry investment. The proposed catalyst and treatment scheme mitigate these problems by offering near-complete elimination of organic pollutants at record-breaking efficiencies while maintaining lower operating costs than industry benchmarks. Many industries may benefit from implementing this technology in their treatment process by reducing treatment costs, increasing their capacity for water reuse, and better meeting regulatory requirements.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.