You are here:
Multi-Scale Evaluation of PFAS Thermal Destruction Requirements
Citation:
Shields, E., J. Krug, W. Linak, S. Jackson, J. Ryan, AND W. Roberson. Multi-Scale Evaluation of PFAS Thermal Destruction Requirements. SERDP & ESTCP Summer PFAS Project Meeting, Portland, OR, July 31 - August 03, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
Finding methods to destroy PFAS in various waste streams is important. For thermal treatment to be viable destruction technology, the temperature requirements and effective methods to test the incinerators are needed. Here PFAS has been incinerated using a pilot-scale incinerator to attempt to determine temperatures needed to destroy PFAS. A surrogate method has been investigated to help simplify a trial burn to test a potential incinerator's efficacy to destroy PFAS.
Description:
A summary of the thermal destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) research performed using a pilot-scale tunnel furnace is presented on the poster. The objectives are to determine the temperature requirements to mineralize PFAS, determine what products of incomplete combustion (PICs) can be formed, and to determine if a surrogate for PFAS can be used to evaluate the efficacy of a full-scale incinerator. The research has shown that exposure of the PFAS to the flame or to temperatures around 1100 C produces near blank levels of PFAS in the emissions and limited amounts of nonpolar PICs. Also, even with a high destruction efficiency there can still be hundreds of microgram per cubic meter of nonpolar fluorochemical emitted. This shows that destruction efficiency or destruction and removal efficiencies are not a reliable metric to evaluate the performance of an incinerator. It appears that hexafluoroethane is a promising PFAS surrogate, and that high destruction of hexafluoroethane may correspond to high mineralization of PFAS.