SBIR Phase II: A Cost-Effective Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Electrolyzer for Groundwater Remediation

SBIR 第二阶段：用于地下水修复的经济高效的全氟烷基物质和多氟烷基物质 (PFAS) 电解槽

• 批准号: 2335319
• 负责人: Colleen Legzdins
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: OXBYEL TECHNOLOGIES INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-01 至 2026-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2335319&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Cost; Effective

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to provide a safe, cost-effective water treatment system that eliminates per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from groundwater to protect human health and the environment while reducing the cost and complexity of remediation. PFAS are one of the world’s most intractable pollutants and have contaminated groundwater and drinking water sources across the US and the world. The toxicity, mobility, and bioaccumulation of PFAS present a need for remediation as they cause an array of adverse impacts on human health. In the US, impending drinking water regulations and listing of PFAS as hazardous substances under Superfund are setting the enforcement foundation for aggressive cleanup of PFAS-contaminated sites. Current PFAS treatment options are non-destructive, expensive, and simply transfer the PFAS to a solid or concentrated waste stream. This project focuses on the development of a low cost, chemical-free water treatment system that directly mineralizes PFAS to safe end-products with no secondary PFAS waste generation. It addresses customers’ need to achieve environmental compliance, reduce remediation cost, accelerate site closeout, and prevent future environmental pollution and liability.This project is technically focused on the electrolytic destruction of PFAS. The core technology consists of a novel radial-field flow unit cell architecture with an array of these unit cells stacked into an Electrolyzer. Contaminants are destroyed as the groundwater passes through the Electrolyzer anode compartments. Key innovations of this treatment system include the scalability of the unit cells to very large area electrodes resulting in large-scale Electrolyzer stacks that handle continuous water flow, and most importantly the development of a low-cost, anode electrocatalyst that provides high voltage, single-step mineralization of PFAS, including the long chains and hard to treat short-chains, to safe end-products. The objectives of this project are: (1) Scale up the anode electrocatalyst coating process for large area 3D electrodes and make full-scale, low cost anodes; (2) Design and build an Electrolyzer Stack composed of an array of repeating, scaled-up unit cells; (3) Construct a groundwater treatment skid with the Electrolyzer Stack and perform on-site groundwater PFAS remediation treatability testing; (4) Verify the PFAS destruction efficiency and low cost of the Electrolyzer Stack water treatment system.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.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II期项目的广播/商业影响是提供一个安全的，具有成本效益的水处理系统，从地下水中消除了人类和多氟烷基物质（PFA），以保护人类健康和环境，同时降低补救的成本和复杂性。 PFA是世界上最棘手的污染物之一，在美国和世界各地污染了地下水和饮用水源。 PFA的毒性，流动性和生物积累表明需要进行补救，因为它们会对人类健康造成一系列不利影响。在美国，即将进行的饮用水法规和将PFA列为超级基金下的危险物质，正在为实施PFAS污染地点积极地清理。当前的PFAS治疗选择是无损，昂贵的，并且简单地将PFA转移到固体或集中的废物流中。该项目的重点是开发低成本，无化学的水处理系统，该系统将PFA直接矿化为没有次级PFAS废物产生的安全最终产品。它解决了客户实现环境合规性，降低补救成本，加速现场关闭以及防止未来环境污染和责任的需求。该项目在技术上专注于PFA的电解破坏。核心技术由一种新型的径向场流量单元结构组成，这些单元构建阵列堆积在电解室中。当地下水穿过电解室阳极室时，污染物被破坏。该处理系统的关键创新包括对非常大的区域电极的可扩展性，导致大规模电解室堆栈处理连续的水流，最重要的是，低成本的阳极电催化剂的发展，可提供高电压，提供高电压的PFA，包括长链和远连接的单步矿化，包括长链和难以处理的短胸，到安全的巧妙的巧克力。该项目的目标是：（1）扩展大面积3D电极的阳极电催化剂涂料工艺，并制作全尺度，低成本的阳极； （2）设计和建立一个由一系列重复的，扩展的单元单元组成的电解箱； （3）用电解室堆栈构建地下水处理，并进行现场地下水PFAS修复治疗测试； （4）验证PFAS的破坏效率和电解室堆栈水处理系统的低成本。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响来审查标准，被认为是珍贵的支持。