Electrochemical Treatment of Perfluoralkyl Acids in Ion Exchange Still Bottoms

Witt, Suzanne

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114141 Copy

Description

Title

Electrochemical Treatment of Perfluoralkyl Acids in Ion Exchange Still Bottoms

Author(s)

Witt, Suzanne

Issue Date

2022-04-28

Keyword(s)

• per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
• PFAS

Abstract

Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are toxic chemicals used in a wide variety of consumer goods and industrial processes. Their highly recalcitrant nature has led to their accumulation in the environment after disposal, resulting in contamination of many different water sources. Ion exchange (IX) is a highly effective technology for removing PFAAs from contaminated water. However, IX does not destroy PFAAs and instead generates a concentrated waste stream. Electrochemical oxidation (EO) is an effective technology for destroying PFAAs, and is a good candidate to be paired with a removal technology such as IX. In this work, EO with boron-doped diamond electrodes was assessed for the destruction of PFAAs in IX still bottoms solutions at the laboratory and semi-pilot scales. For both scales, > 90 % removal of total PFAAs was achieved with electrochemical treatment of the still bottoms, however the semi-pilot scale exhibited 0.8-fold slower pseudo-first order degradation kinetics compared to the laboratory scale. The differences in performances between the two scales will be discussed to highlight the challenges of scaling up the EO technology. Overall, the results show that EO paired with IX is a promising treatment train approach for permanent, energy efficient PFAA destruction in larger volumes of wastewater.

Series/Report Name or Number

2022 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference (ECEC22)

Type of Resource

• text
• still image

Language

en

Permalink

• https://youtu.be/WOd75wjqA8w
• http://hdl.handle.net/2142/114141

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