Collaborative Research: ERASE-PFAS: Hydrothermal Treatment as a Strategy for Simultaneous PFAS Destruction and Recovery of Energy and Nutrients from Wastewater Residual Solids

合作研究：ERASE-PFAS：水热处理作为同时破坏 PFAS 并从废水残留固体中回收能量和养分的策略

• 批准号: 2207235
• 负责人: Timothy Strathmann
• 金额: $ 29.18万
• 依托单位: Colorado School of Mines
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2207235&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; ERASE; PFAS; Hydrothermal

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are fluorinated organic chemicals that are used in numerous consumer products and industrial applications. During the last decade, PFAS have emerged as priority pollutants due to increasing concerns about their persistence, stability, and toxicity to humans and other living organisms as they accumulate in the environment. The increasing detection of PFAS in sludge and biosolids from water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) has raised serious concerns about using these solids in agriculture and farming as soil amendments, and sources of organic matter and nutrients. The goal of this collaborative project is to evaluate the use of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) as a platform technology to advance the simultaneous destruction of PFAS and recovery of liquid fuel and nutrients from sludge. The HTL process uses high temperature (250-350°C) and high pressure (100-250 bar) to break down PFAS-in sludge from WRRFs in a specially designed reactor. The proposed research will evaluate the effectiveness of HTL to remediate PFAS-laden sludges while producing liquid fuel and nutrients. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the development of new fundamental knowledge and technology to advance the cost-effective remediation and management of PFAS-laden sludges from WRRFs. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through outreach and educational activities including the mentoring of a graduate student at Colorado School of Mines and a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.The detection of PFAS in agricultural fields and farms where sludges were applied to the land has raised serious concerns about the land application of sludge, a farming practice commonly used to improve soil quality and crop yields. The goal of this collaborative research is to evaluate and advance the application of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) as an alternative technology for managing PFAS-laden sludges from water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). This goal will be advanced through a combination of experiments and modeling efforts with a focus on two critical objectives: (1) identify HTL process conditions that ensure destruction of PFAS that accumulate in sludges from WRRFs; and (2) develop and apply a system modeling framework to optimize sludge valorization through the recovery of fuel and valuable products (e.g., nutrients) while safely destroying the PFAS contaminants. The proposed experiments will evaluate the destruction of PFAS and track the mass balances of the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus that are generated during sludge HTL. The results of the HTL experiments will inform and guide the development and validation of process modules that will be incorporated into QSDsan (Quantitative Sustainable Design for sanitation and resource recovery), an open-source modeling framework for optimizing resource recovery from wastewater and waste biomass. Model predictions that optimize resource recovery while destroying PFAS will then be validated with sludges and digested biosolids obtained from several WRRFs. The successful completion of this project has the potential for transformative impact through the development and validation of a new technology that addresses sludge PFAS contamination while advancing the recovery of valuable products. To implement the education and outreach activities of the project, the Principal Investigators (PIs) plan to leverage an existing REU program at Colorado School of Mines (CSM) to broaden participation in STEM education by recruiting students who have not previously participated in undergraduate research. In addition, the PIs plan to 1) conduct virtual workshops to support and broaden the use of QSDsan modeling by the water research community and 2) develop summer camp activities on resource recovery from waste streams for K-6 students that will participate in a summer camp for children with dyslexia at CSM.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

每种消费产品和工业应用中使用的氟化有机化学物质（PFA）是氟化物质（PFA）。在过去的十年中，由于人们对它们在环境中积累的持续性，稳定性和毒性的担忧增加，因此PFA成为优先污染物。从水资源回收设施（WRRF）中对PFA的发现不断增加，这引起了人们对在同意和农业中使用这些固体作为土壤修正案以及有机物和养分的来源的严重担忧。该协作项目的目的是评估使用水热液化（HTL）作为一种平台技术，以推动PFA的简单破坏以及从污泥中恢复液体燃料和营养素。 HTL过程使用高温（250-350°C）和高压（100-250 bar），以分解特殊设计的反应器中WRRF的PFA-IN污泥。拟议的研究将评估HTL在产生液体燃料和养分的同时，对HTL的有效性进行补救。该项目的成功完成将通过发展新的基本知识和技术来使社会受益，从而促进WRRFS中充满PFAS的经济有效的补救和管理。将通过外展和教育活动来实现社会的其他好处，包括在矿山科罗拉多州学校的一名研究生和伊利诺伊大学的乌尔巴纳 - 坎皮恩大学的研究生。在农业领域和农场中发现PFA在土地上的污泥和农场中的污泥中对土地应用的严重关注使粉碎的土地应用变得越来越高，以提高粉地的土地应用，并提高了养殖型的土地，并提高了养殖型的良好，并提高了养殖型的质量。这项合作研究的目标是评估和推进水热液化（HTL）作为管理水资源回收设施（WRRFS）管理PFA的污泥的替代技术。该目标将通过实验和建模工作的结合以及重点关注两个关键目标来提出：（1）确定HTL过程条件，以确保破坏WRRFS中积累的PFA； （2）开发和应用系统建模框架，以通过燃料和有价值的产品（例如，营养素）的回收来优化污泥验证，同时安全破坏PFAS污染物。提出的实验将评估PFA的破坏，并跟踪污泥HTL期间产生的碳，氮和磷的质量平衡。 HTL实验的结果将告知并指导将纳入QSDSAN的工艺模块的开发和验证（用于卫生和资源恢复的定量可持续设计），这是一个开放源代码建模框架，可从废水和废物生物量中优化资源恢复。在破坏PFA的同时优化资源恢复的模型预测将通过从几个WRRF获得的污泥和消化的生物固体进行验证。该项目的成功完成具有通过开发和验证新技术来解决污泥PFAS污染的同时推进有价值产品的恢复的潜力。为了实施该项目的教育和外展活动，主要研究人员（PIS）计划利用科罗拉多州矿业学院（CSM）现有的REU计划，通过招募以前从未参加过本科研究的学生来扩大参与STEM教育的参与。 In addition, the PIs plan to 1) conduct virtual workshops to support and broaden the use of QSDsan modeling by the water research community and 2) developing summer camp activities on resource recovery from waste streams for K-6 students that will participate in a summer camp for children with dyslexia at CSM.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed precious of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.