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PFAS Waste Management: Destruction and Air Monitoring
Citation:
Potter, P. PFAS Waste Management: Destruction and Air Monitoring. Region 5 Environmental Restoration Partnership Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 02 - 03, 2024.
Impact/Purpose:
ORD is assessing existing and emerging technologies for the thermal destruction of PFAS-laden waste streams. The fate of PFAS in these treatment systems is understood by exploring bench, pilot, and full-scale treatment. Examples of these technologies include: biosolid incineration and GAC regeneration. The overview and data provided in this presentation will be of particular interest to regional and state partners who are also assessing the end-of-life options for various waste streams.
Description:
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s in a wide array of consumer products. PFAS are persistent in the environment and bioaccumulate. Thermal treatment methods are currently applied to a variety of materials, including sewage sludge and granular activated carbon (GAC). There is a critical need to assess the efficacy of existing and emerging thermal treatment methods to completely destroy or mineralize PFAS. Both biosolid incineration and GAC regeneration are currently utilized to treat materials that contain PFAS, but these treatment are not necessarily optimized for PFAS destruction. Results from a pilot-scale system used to perform both biosolid incineration and GAC regeneration will be presented along with a summary of current EPA research in this field. In addition, emerging technologies for PFAS destruction will be discussed with regards to work ORD has done or is planning to perform.