Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Development of a Chemical-free Short-wavelength UV Based PFAS Destruction Technology for Saline Wastewater Treatment
EPA Contract Number: 68HERC24C0013Title: Development of a Chemical-free Short-wavelength UV Based PFAS Destruction Technology for Saline Wastewater Treatment
Investigators: Yu, Xuejun
Small Business: Water Illumination, Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: I
Project Period: December 1, 2023 through May 30, 2024
Project Amount: $100,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (2024) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) , PFAS Treatment , Water Treatment
Description:
During EPA SBIR Phase I project period, the project team at Water Illumination Inc. (WI) addressed urgent and important global contamination issues of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – also known as “forever chemicals” – in wastewater through a novel chemical-free short-wavelength UV based PFAS destruction technology for saline wastewater treatment. The overarching goal for the 6-month Phase I project is to demonstrate technical feasibility via an enabling innovation strategy as a basis for an effective, scalable solution applicable to wastewater processing facilities. The ability to completely destroy PFAS using short-wavelength UV light without generating secondary waste streams or toxic byproducts for wastewater treatment will facilitate new, sustainable and commercially viable ways to mitigate PFAS and enable cost-effective water infrastructure for both centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment. The project team evaluated the PFAS degradation and defluorination in both deionized water and real-world brine wastewater using a newly invented UV treatment technology. Six types of PFAS, including PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and GenX were evaluated separately and all together as a mixture, and PFAS defluorination fluorine mass balance was analyzed.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
During EPA SBIR Phase I project period, the project team at Water Illumination Inc. (WI) use clean light energy, our tunable technology produces a highly reactive system to fully break the carbon-fluorine bond in PFAS compounds, thus it can completely destroy both short-chain and long-chain PFAS without generating secondary waste streams or any impure byproducts or emissions. We discovered that our novel PFAS destruction process can be catalyzed by the presence of wastewater constituents (e.g., chloride and sulfate) to boost its reactivity substantially, enabling PFAS treatment of wastewater with a very short hydraulic retention time (i.e., minutes). Furthermore, our technology operates at ambient temperatures and pressure levels and is applicable to wastewater and industrial wastewater PFAS treatment. The finding from the project prove that the VUV-based photochemical processes are promising for efficient degradation, defluorination and mineralization of various PFAS types.
Conclusions:
Based on the promising technical data obtained from this Phase I project and partnerships and interviews with potential early adaptor and customers of this technology, the project team believe that the new technology is competitive in future PFAS market and can bring the following values to our future clients: (1) reduce the total cost of removing PFAS in a wastewater treatment plant by more than 50% compared to traditional physical separation technologies, (2) eliminate secondary PFAS contamination both to soil and landfills, (3) avoid potential safety issues (e.g., no need for heating or pressurization), and (4) reduce the treatment time in comparison to existing methods.
The market of PFAS treatment in drinking water and wastewater worldwide is rapidly growing and will be worth USD $80 billion between 2025 and 2030. With new and more stringent PFAS water quality regulations being established in different countries, the global market will be sizable. For removing PFAS in wastewater, our potential customers are municipal wastewater treatment facilities, industry wastewater treatment plant, industry wastewater dischargers and landfill leachate. Our promising UV PFAS destruction technology can sustainable, cost effective and efficient destruction of PFAS whereby wastewater dischargers can provide PFAS treatment by retrofitting their existing wastewater treatment infrastructure and in compliance with urgent upcoming mandatory state and federal regulations. Our technology can also be integrated with other existing PFAS removal technologies, such as Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), ion exchange, reverse osmosis (RO), and foam fractionation. Our promising approach can achieve nearly 100% removal of PFAS and significantly extend the usage life of absorption media such as GAC and ion exchange.
SBIR Phase II:
Demonstration of a Chemical-free Short-wavelength UV Based PFAS Destruction Technology for Saline Wastewater TreatmentThe 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.