PFI-TT: Development of a New Technology for Removing Perchlorate from Water

创新伙伴关系-技术转化（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将解决饮用水的关键社会问题之一。高氯酸盐是剧毒物质，在全国至少75个已知地点的地下水中发现了高氯酸盐，这是由于过去生产推进剂、炸药和化肥造成的。该项目旨在开发一种有前途的去除水中高氯酸盐的新技术。为了处理大量受污染的地下水，需要扩大规模。这些材料是可持续的，并且将确定处理从抽取井中抽取的大量地下水的技术限制。这项技术的商业影响可能是巨大的，可以为公司和州政府节省目前用于去除水中高氯酸盐的一次性树脂的费用。对这些材料的限量的确定将确认清洁被这种有毒化合物污染的水体的技术的成本效益。参与该项目的研究人员将获得在最终用户环境中规范水处理的实际知识。来自两个NSF夏季研究项目（NSF REU和NIH ACCESS）的本科生将继续参与该项目。拟议的项目将继续开发高氯酸盐去除技术，该技术从模型解决方案开始，逐步发展到实际污染的工业现场地下水。该团队开发的原型阳离子材料每次使用的体积很小（50至500毫升），在吸收高氯酸盐后，释放出对环境友好的物种，其速度、数量和选择性都超过了水中的其他物种，如氯化物。此外，该团队还可以通过将过量的原始物种排出高氯酸盐来重复利用这些材料，从而产生高度浓缩的废物形式进行处理（但更有可能作为工业高氯酸盐的来源重新利用）。该团队将建立一个流动柱，在那里水被泵送或循环通过/通过离子交换材料。一旦在实验室中进行了优化，更大的产量将直接在工业萃取井中进行中试。处理后的水将由实验室提供的一套仪器进行探测。其目标是建立一种低成本的方法来处理受污染的工业场所的整个受污染的地下水。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 Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project will address one of the key societal issues of potable water. Perchlorate is highly toxic and is present in contaminated groundwater of at least 75 known sites nationwide due to past manufacture of propellants, explosives, and fertilizers. This project seeks to develop a promising new technology for removing the perchlorate from water. Scale-up work is needed in order to treat large volumes of contaminated underground water. The materials are sustainable and the technology limits will be determined with regard to treating large volumes of groundwater pumped from the extraction wells. The commercial impact could be significant, saving companies and state governments the expense of the single-use resins currently in use for removal of perchlorate from water. The determination of the limits of the materials will confirm the cost-effectiveness of the technology for cleaning bodies of water polluted by this toxic compound. The researchers involved in the project will gain practical knowledge of regulated water treatment in an end-user environment. The undergraduate students from two NSF summer research programs(NSF REU and NIH ACCESS) will continue to participate in the project.The proposed project will continue to develop a perchlorate removal technology, which began with model solutions and progressed to actual contaminated underground water from an industrial site. With small volumes (50 to 500 mL) at a time, the prototype cationic materials the team has developed release environmentally-friendly species upon uptake of the perchlorate in record speed, amount and selectivity over other species in the water such as chloride. In addition, the team can reuse the material by driving the perchlorate back out with excess of the original species, giving a highly concentrated waste form for disposal (but more likely reuse as perchlorate source for industry). The team will set up a flow column where the water is pumped or cycled through/past the ion exchange material. Once optimized in the lab, larger volumes will be pilot tested directly at the industrial extraction wells. The treated water will be probed by a suite of instrumentation available in the lab. The goal is to establish a low-cost treatment for entire bodies of contaminated underground water at polluted industrial sites.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.