Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Plasma-Enhancement of Absorbers for Improved Removal of PFOS and PFOA from Water
EPA Contract Number: 68HE0D18C0025Title: Plasma-Enhancement of Absorbers for Improved Removal of PFOS and PFOA from Water
Investigators: Bailey, Charles
Small Business: AAPlasma, LLC
EPA Contact: Packard, Benjamin H
Phase: I
Project Period: October 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019
Project Amount: $100,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (2018) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: SBIR - Water , Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
Description:
New regulations and advisory levels for perfluoroalkyl substances have resulted in increased drinking water treatment costs or abandonment of drinking water sources. Treatment technologies are needed that can achieve addressing contamination down to low parts- per-trillion levels. Presently, there are insufficient treatment technologies that can destructively remove perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and/or perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS).
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
AAPlasma investigated a novel process using a non-thermal plasma treatment to regenerate activated carbon with an optional, second stage treatment to generate amine functional groups on the surface and improve contaminant removal abilities. The application explored in this Phase I project offers water filtration technology that may offer longer-term re-used and requires only electricity to regenerate the granular activated carbon (GAC) (and addition of N 2 /H 2 if amination is desired for adsorption improvement).
Conclusions:
Potential advantages of our technology include a significant reduction of operational expenses and reduced environmental impact. AAPlasma, with the support of Drexel University's Nyheim Plasma Institute, investigated the feasibility of this technology by verifying plasma's ability to destructively remove PFOS and PFOA adsorbed to the surface of GAC and initiated the development of this technology. These efforts are in response to the apparent shortcomings in existing water filtration technology in the removal of PFOA/PFOS from drinking water.
SBIR Phase II:
Plasma-Enhancement of Absorbers for Improved Removal of PFOS and PFOA from Water | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.