Continued Development of Photoelectrocatalytic Oxidation for Treating Gasoline Co

描述（由申请人提供）：AquaMost正在开发一种基于光电催化氧化（PECO）技术的水处理设备。该项目的重点是使用PECO系统来处理地下水，这些地下水被泄漏的地下储罐释放的有机污染物污染。有两类化学品特别值得关注：（1）芳香烃，特别是BTEX化学品苯、乙苯、甲苯和二甲苯的三种异构体，以及（2）燃料含氧化合物，特别是甲基叔丁基醚（MTBE）。这些化学品对人类健康构成重大风险。这两类化学品都有急性和长期的毒性作用，并可能致癌。由于这些原因，相当多的联邦、州和私人资源被用于从全国各地受污染的地下水中清除这些化学物质。MTBE的几个独特的化学特性（例如，高水溶性、高极性、抗生物降解性）使得很难使用现有的补救技术从水中去除。 第二阶段项目的具体目标是：（1）长期开展在污染物水平、地下水化学性质等各不相同的几个受污染地点，使用商业规模的PECO系统进行实地试验（超过6个月），以获得关于这些系统长期功效和性能的数据，以及（2）提高系统的尺寸和/或性能，使得它们能够以5至10加仑/分钟的流速（当前实施例在~1加仑/分钟下工作）在单程中处理被污染的地下水。现场测试将在两个主要地点和几个次要地点进行，并与两个环境修复公司合作，这些公司将作为该项目的分包商。这些测试将有助于回答有关这些PECO系统有效性的几个问题，包括：（1）该技术在不同的现场条件下如何运行？(2)在实际条件下，PECO单元电极的寿命和耐用性如何？(3)该技术在多大程度上加强和补充了现有的地下水补救技术（例如，活性炭、空气汽提等）？(4)利用保护环境和生态组织修复受污染地下水的运营和维护成本是多少？PECO系统将在这些试验中不断重新设计，直到有效、稳健和经济的商业产品可供市场使用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): AquaMost is developing a water treatment device based on a technology called photoelectrocatalytic oxidation (PECO). The focus for this project is using PECO systems to treat groundwater contaminated with organic pollutants released from leaking underground storage tanks. Two chemical classes are of particular concern: (1) aromatic hydrocarbons, particularly the BTEX chemicals benzene, ethyl benzene, toluene, and three isomers of xylene, and (2) fuel oxygenates, particularly methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). These chemicals are a significant risk to human health. Both chemical classes have acute and long-term toxic effects, and may be carcinogenic. For these reasons, considerable federal, state, and private resources are being expended to remove these chemicals from contaminated groundwater sites throughout the country. Several unique chemical characteristics of MTBE (e.g., high water solubility, high polarity, resistance to biodegradation) make it very difficult to remove from water using existing remediation technologies. The specific objectives of the Phase II project are to: (1) conduct long-term (> 6 months) field trials with commercial-scale PECO systems at several contaminated sites that differ with respect to contaminant levels, groundwater chemistry, etc. to obtain data on the long-term efficacy and performance of these systems, and (2) enhance the size and/or performance of the systems so that they can treat contaminated groundwater in a single pass at a flow rate of 5 to 10 gal/min (the current embodiment works at ~1 gal/min). Field tests will be performed at two primary sites and several secondary sites in conjunction with two environmental remediation companies that will serve as subcontractors on this project. These tests will help to answer several questions about the effectiveness of these PECO systems, including: (1) how will the technology perform under different field conditions? (2) What is the longevity and durability of the PECO unit electrodes under practical conditions? (3) How well does the technology enhance and complement current groundwater remediation technologies (e.g., activated carbon, air stripping, etc.)? (4) What are the operational and maintenance costs of using PECO to remediate contaminated groundwater? The PECO systems will be continually reengineered throughout these trials until an effective, robust, and economical commercial product is available for the market.