September’s international wastewater and water treatment exhibition in Chicago showed that dealing with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances remains a top priority for utilities and industries.
A number of vendors highlighted technologies to help organizations meet increasingly strict federal and state regulations on these “forever chemicals.” Offerings included innovative adsorbents as well as technologies that destroy PFAS, eliminating the additional step of regenerating or disposal of contaminated media. Here is a look at several of the treatment methods on display.
Kurita and Cyclopure join forces
Water treatment solutions provider Kurita America and adsorbents supplier Cyclopure announced a partnership to deliver advanced solutions for removing PFAS from water.
Cyclopure brings its PFAS-selective and regenerable DEXSORB adsorbent, while Kurita offers expertise in treatment system design and fabrication. Together, they promise to offer a reliable, cost-effective and sustainable PFAS management solutions.
Cyclopure says its media delivers four to 10 times higher adsorbent capacity than traditional activated carbon and ion exchange while removing a broad spectrum of short- and long-chain PFAS. Its properties include rapid kinetics, high treatment capacity, resistance to fouling by other organic compounds and ions, and easy regeneration.
The DEXSORB material has been deployed in residential, municipal, military, and industrial applications. The company also offers a regeneration and concentration process that enables cost-effective PFAS destruction with no risk of recontamination and reduced liability exposure. Meanwhile, Kurita specializes in filtration equipment design and fabrication.
A new collaborative PFAS regeneration facility in Michigan will serve the partnership as a source for scalable and sustainable PFAS treatment. The companies’ executives say that Kurita’s engineering capabilities, combined with Cyclopure’s advanced material science, can accelerate the delivery of practical, effective PFAS-removal solutions. kuritaamerica.com; cyclopure.com.
ForeverGone PFAS destruction
Gradiant presented the ForeverGone all-in-one solution to remove PFAS from water sources and convert it to harmless substances. Micro-Foam Fractionation injects microbubbles into the water to separate and concentrate PFAS into a micro-foamate optimized for immediate destruction. A Destruction Engine sits alongside the fractionation unit and reduces the the PFAS in the foamate to harmless substances by electro-oxidation.
The company says its technology completely removes a full range of PFAS compounds and delivers treated water that meets or exceeds the strictest regulatory limits. Its modular design scales easily and accommodates a wide range of feed and product water conditions. It is available in containerized systems and can be custom-designed for site-specific conditions.
In the foam fractionation process, air bubbles generated through a venturi injector or microbubble generator float upward. Surface-active contaminants attach to the air-liquid interfaces and generate micro-foam. The overflowing foam is then separated and collected.
The process offers high energy efficiency (~0.5 kWh/m3), high concentration factor and removal efficiency, and low competition with co-contaminants. The destruction process directly oxidizes PFAS at the electrode surface. Destruction efficiency greater than 99.9% yields PFAS-free water. gradiant.com/pfas-forevergone.
AquaPRS: Adsorb and separate
The AquaPRS PFAS removal system from Aqua-Aerobic Systems uses a special sorbent suspension to adsorb PFAS and a robust separator to extract clean water from the suspension.
A turbulent adsorbent slurry prevents biofouling and controls solids and mineral buildup. The supplier says the media is engineered to adsorb more PFAS than other adsorbents or ion-exchange resins, reducing life-cycle costs significantly.
The process is fully automated, including adsorbent replacement. It allows users to adjust parameters to accommodate varying influent PFAS concentrations. Single-stage operation removes low to moderate levels of influent PFAS/PFOA and other regulated PFAS to concentrations below EPA standards.
For high influent PFAS concentrations or difficult influent water characteristics, a two-stage configuration and operation can achieve U.S. EPA-compliant effluent levels. Multiple adsorbents are available for specific PFAS matrices. Fouling and scaling are controlled by the slurried adsorbent. The system provides enhanced removal of short-chain PFAS.
The company cites applications including drinking water, groundwater, surface water and stormwater treatment; spill remediation; and landfill leachate. Containerized, full-scale treatment units are available for rental. aqua-aerobic.com/pfas-solutions/aquaprs.
CETCO: Multi-purpose adsorbent
CETCO, a Minerals Technologies Company, showcased FLUORO-SORB adsorbent, an NSF/ANSI/CAN Standard 61 certified material designed to support PFAS remediation.
The supplier says the material captures and binds a full range of PFAS compounds, including PFOA, PFOS, PFBS, PFHxS, PFNA, and GenX. It is minimally affected by co-contaminants such as BTEX, TCE, hydrocarbons, natural organic matter, salinity and varying pH.
The adsorbent fits readily into existing remediations. It can be used as a flow-through filtration media, in a permeable reactive barrier, for in situ stabilization and soil solidification, and for sediment capping. Water applications include municipal drinking water and wastewater, in situ and ex situ groundwater, industrial wastewater, stormwater and landfill leachate.
The material’s fast kinetics enable its use as a flow-through filtration medium for water treatment with an empty-bed contact time as low as three minutes. It can be used on its own or as pre- or post-treatment with existing treatment trains.
The incorporation of the adsorbent extends filtration system life by reducing the number of changeouts required. This lowers operating cost and disposal cost for spent media. The company’s engineering team can help with system considerations and bed life estimates.
A variety of formulations are available to fit site requirements and influent characteristics. mineralstech.com/cetco/water-and-remediation/fluoro-sorb-adsorbent.
Puraffinity: Advanced adsorbent technology
Puraffinity presented the Puratech family of adsorbent media for PFAS removal. The manufacturer says the materials have affinity for short-and long-chain PFAS and are designed to be modified according to market requirements.
The company’s technology enables synthesis of high-capacity advanced materials. The surface of the adsorbent media is endowed with favorable properties through a multi-step process. It provides a customizable, plug-in solution that can fit into any existing water treatment system, saving time and costs.
Testing has shown up to seven times the adsorptive capacity of petroleum-derived ion exchange resin in removing PFAS to below regulatory limits. Fast kinetics allows for shortened contact times and compact system footprints. puraffinity.com/technology.
MYCELX: Systematic approach
MYCELX Water Technologies offered it Multi-Stage PFAS Treatment Technology, designed to reliably remove all forms of PFAS while generating less waste than conventional methods.
The technology removes PFAS in a single pass with Performer media life longer than conventional granular activated carbon. The media can also remove co-contaminants such as TSS, hydrocarbons and oils. The systematic treatment approach uses pre-filtration, polymer-infused cartridge filters and media to remove all PFAS to below detectable limits.
Media changeouts are infrequent; no backwash is required and no liquid waste is generated. Media waste is lower in volume and can be safely disposed by landfill or incineration. The supplier cited other benefits that include minimal energy consumption, compact system footprint, fast and simple installation, and low operating costs.
Applications include drinking water and wastewater, groundwater, stormwater, landfill leachate and industrial wastewater. Mobile rental units are available, as are bench-scale and field pilot systems to ensure that treatment objectives are met. mycelx.com/pfas.
Axine: Simple and effective
Axine Water Technologies introduced the electraCLEAR electrochemical oxidation process designed for complete PFAS destruction. The technology breaks PFAS down to harmless elemental components, effectively targeting long- and short-chain forms. The manufacturer says the process creates oxidizing conditions many times stronger than chemical oxidation.
Operating at ambient temperature and pressure, the process eliminates safety concerns and special operating conditions. Its plug-flow/batch process design is familiar to water and wastewater professionals and easily integrates into any complementary treatment process. It is designed to provide significant operating cost advantages versus landfilling and incineration.
The process incorporates innovative materials, treatment technology, and process controls. Modular systems are typically provided through a turnkey five-year treatment-as-a-service contract in which Axine handles all operations and maintenance and guarantees treatment results through the full contract term.
Electrochemical oxidation involves immersing reactive electrodes into the water stream and applying an electric current. The electraCLEAR process uses multiple catalysts and electrode materials within a single reactor. This maximizes treatment performance, energy efficiency and electrode life.
Axine offers full service from design to installation and maintenance of equipment. Supported by a suite of online instrumentation, company personnel use a machine learning/artificial intelligence algorithm for real-time monitoring and optimization of performance and operating costs. axinewater.com/solutions/technology.
Water & Carbon Group: Three-step fractionation
The Water & Carbon Group presented LEEF System Technology, a low-energy PFAS extraction and volume reduction system for treating highly contaminated wastewaters such as landfill leachate. It typically does not require pretreatment for direct PFAS removal to low part-per-trillion levels.
The process can help landfill operators remove PFAS from leachate before delivery to wastewater treatment plants, making the leachate more acceptable and potentially reducing treatment costs. The technology uses a three-stage foam fractionation process that removes PFAS to limits of laboratory detection, combined with an enclosed solar-powered distilling process that further minimizes the volume of the concentrated waste stream.
The process removes more than 99% of regulated PFAS within 15 minutes, treating wastewater to within regulatory discharge limits with results as low as 10 to 200 parts per trillion. The final extracted waste stream is reduced passively to less than 1% of the initial treated volume.
The system is engineered to sharply reduce energy consumption and to handle large waste streams that can be problematic to treat, while using renewable and naturally occurring resources. The technology is also designed to minimize operating costs by eliminating chemical additives, consumables, and excessive waste transport.
The system is modular and scalable to treat flow rates from 7,500 gpd to more than 250,000 gpd. The manufacturer offers a demonstration trailer able to treat up to 1,000 gpd. waterandcarbon.com/leef-system.
BioLargo: Rapid concentration
BioLargo offered the Aqueous Electrostatic Concentrator, designed for fast, effective and affordable concentration of PFAS in water streams. It works by separating PFAS in an electrostatic field and forcing them through a specially engineered membrane system.
The modular process removes more than 99% of PFAS in continuous flow, at energy costs as low as 30 cents per 1,000 gallons. The manufacturer cites benefits that include high energy-efficiency, low activated carbon requirement in the PFAS life cycle, high-purity final water and a compact footprint.
The process takes advantage of the electrophoretic behavior of PFAS molecules in an electrostatic field. It removes long-chain, short-chain and ultrashort-chain PFAS in a single pass with low contact time.
The system accommodates groundwater, surface water or wastewater from influent sources and can operate as a mobile pump-and-treat groundwater remediation process. After an extended life, treatment modules are exchanged through a service program that handles destruction of PFAS in the waste material through electro-oxidation at a company-owned, permitted facility.
The supplier says the technology is faster and more efficient than standard filtration, can work on multiple water streams alone or in conjunction with other treatment processes, and produces less than 1/40,000th of PFAS-laden waste versus carbon. biolargoengineering.com/biolargo-aec.
