SBIR Phase II: Energy-Efficient Supercritical Water Oxidation

SBIR第二阶段项目的更广泛影响是创造了一种急需的生物固体处置替代方案。生物固体是废水处理的副产品;它们的形成和处置会造成严重的空气、水和土壤污染。特别是，生物固体导致温室气体排放和350多种有机污染物的释放，包括高浓度的全氟烷基和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）。由于人口增加和更严格的环境法规，生物固体处置的挑战预计将增加。目前的生物固体处置方案存在不足，处置成本正在增加。该项目开发了一种突破性技术，可以清洁和经济地破坏生物固体中存在的有机污染物。空气、水和土壤污染将减少，重要的是，废水处理厂将能够满足新的可持续性监管标准。最终副产品的体积，因此运输成本和相关排放将减少85%以上。该项目通过回收压缩能量将超临界水氧化（SCWO）转化为节能技术。超临界水氧化能迅速彻底地破坏有机物。迄今为止，该技术已用于少数应用，包括化学武器拆除。压缩能量回收可节省总处理成本的30-40%，开辟了废水处理等新市场。 在超临界水氧化过程中压缩能量的恢复以前已经得到证实。 该项目的目标是进一步优化，扩大和扩展压缩能量回收设备，以增加容量和可靠性，并通过将其添加到现有的超临界水氧化试验系统中，对这些更新/新设备进行长期现场测试。该系统的目标是实现与工业高压压缩机同等的可靠性，后者在主要服务之间可以运行超过24，000小时。该奖项反映了NSF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 of this SBIR Phase II project is in the creation of a much-needed alternative to biosolids disposal. Biosolids are a by-product of wastewater treatment; their formation and disposal contribute to significant air, water, and soil pollution. In particular, biosolids contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and the release of over 350 organic contaminants, including high concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Biosolids disposal challenges are expected to grow due to population increases and stricter environmental regulations. Current biosolids disposal options have shortfalls and disposal costs are increasing. This project develops a breakthrough technology that cleanly and affordably destroys the organic contaminants present in biosolids. Air, water and soil pollution will be reduced, and, importantly, wastewater treatment plants will be able to meet new regulatory standards for sustainability. Volume of final by-product, and therefore transport cost and associated emissions, will be decreased by over 85%.The proposed project turns supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) into an energy-efficient technology by recovering compressive energy. SCWO rapidly and completely destroys organics. To date, the technology has been used in few applications, including chemical weapons dismantling. Recovery of compression energy saves 30-40% of total treatment cost, opening new markets, such as wastewater treatment. Recovery of compression energy during SCWO has been demonstrated previously. This project's goals are to further optimize, scale-up and iterate on compression energy recovery equipment for added capacity and reliability, and long-term field test these updated/new pieces of equipment by adding them to an existing supercritical water oxidation pilot system. The goal for the system is to achieve reliability on par with industrial high-pressure compressors, which can operate over 24,000 hours between major services.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.