Assessment and Optimization of an Innovative Adsorption Product to Treat Contaminated Waters and Wastewaters

过去几十年的工业发展加速了加拿大各地水和废水中污染物的排放。由于这些增加，排放限制和与之相关的法规变得更加严格。在水和废水中发现的污染物，包括重金属、油类和营养素，可能会对它们释放到的环境产生强烈的负面影响。因此，开发一种经济高效的污染物吸附材料是当务之急。目前可用的吸附材料极其昂贵，通常仅限于一次性使用，导致产生更多污染物饱和的废物，最终进入垃圾填埋场。Green Circle Salons Inc.是一家总部位于安大略省的公司，将沙龙和水疗中心的垃圾从垃圾填埋场转移出去。由于其吸附性能，剪发是一种创新的环境修复产品，可以从各种受污染的水源中去除大量污染物。这一应用研究项目的主要目标是评估和优化剪发的吸附效率，以最大限度地去除受污染的水和废水中的污染物。产品性能的优化将通过确定对各种受污染的水的最佳吸附条件来确定，包括在不同应用条件(pH、接触时间)下将污染物淋回源水的可能性。一旦确定，将在现实世界条件下验证多种竞争污染物的吸附潜力。这项研究的其他目标将是调查吸附污染物的回收潜力和头发剪下的再利用潜力。用于吸附的已识别污染物将用于确定和评估最终开发产品的市场机会，并检查其潜在的包装解决方案。这项研究的结果将使Green Circle沙龙能够开发和优化他们独特的产品，进而识别和瞄准市场机会，并最终产生具有商业潜力的最终产品。

Industrial growth over the past several decades has accelerated the emission of contaminants in water and wastewater across Canada. As a result of these increases, discharge limits and regulations associated with them have become stricter. Pollutants including heavy metals, oils, and nutrients found in water and wastewater can have a strong negative impact on the environment into which they are released. For this reason, development of a cost-effective and efficient contaminant adsorption material is of high priority. Current available adsorption materials are extremely costly and are usually limited to a one-time use, leading to the creation of additional contaminant-saturated wastes which end up in landfills. Green Circle Salons Inc. is an Ontario-based company that diverts salon and spa waste from landfills. Due to its adsorptive properties, hair clippings are an innovative environmental remediation product that can remove numerous pollutants from a variety of contaminated water sources. The primary objective of this applied research project is to assess and optimize the adsorption efficiency of hair clippings to maximize the removal of contaminants from contaminated water and wastewater. Optimization of the product's performance will be confirmed by determining optimal adsorption conditions on various contaminated waters, including the potential of leaching pollutants back into the source water under different application conditions (pH, contact time). Once identified, adsorption potential will be validated for multiple competing contaminants under real-world conditions. Other objectives of this research will be to investigate the reclamation potential of adsorbed contaminants and re-use potential for the hair clippings. Identified contaminants for adsorption will be used to identify and assess market opportunities for the final developed product and examine potential packaging solutions for it. The results of this research will allow Green Circle Salons to develop and optimize their unique product, in turn identifying and targeting market opportunities and ultimately leading to a final product with commercial potential.