SBIR Phase II: Optimized Hydrothermal Reactor for Scalable and Affordable Destruction of Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS)

SBIR 第二阶段：优化的水热反应器，可大规模且经济地销毁全氟和多氟物质 (PFAS)

• 批准号: 2232969
• 负责人: Brian Pinkard
• 金额: $ 97.93万
• 依托单位: AQUAGGA, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-01 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2232969&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Optimized; Hydrothermal

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is the acceleration of a new technology for the destruction of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS), otherwise known as “forever chemicals”. PFAS chemicals are widely used in firefighting foams and consumer goods. However, they are incredibly recalcitrant environmental pollutants, highly toxic to humans, and very hard to destroy. Widespread contamination of soil, groundwater, and drinking water at sites near airports, military bases, and manufacturing sites is driving a global effort to remove and destroy PFAS toxins. PFAS are poorly broken down by incineration and they do not have a natural half-life. The environmental remediation industry needs effective technology for on-site, end-of-life destruction of PFAS. The technology being developed in this SBIR Phase II project is energy efficient, scalable, pairs with existing technologies, and can be deployed at-scale for the destruction of PFAS-rich wastes. This SBIR Phase II project seeks to reduce technical risks related to system corrosion and chemical consumption in the development and scale-up of the hydrothermal alkaline treatment (HALT) process for the destruction of PFAS. Hydrothermal processing has historically been plagued by challenges with corrosion and low component lifetimes, and/or has requiring the use of expensive alloys, replaceable system components, and/or elegant chemical corrosion prevention strategies. This said, hydrothermal processes are some of the most effective and efficient technologies for destroying hazardous wastes, such as PFAS. This project will focus on measuring and mitigating the material corrosion challenges to enable more widespread adoption of hydrothermal processes for waste disposal. Additionally, HALT processing requires the use of alkaline chemicals as process additives. In this project, by adopting chemical recycling strategies, the use of chemicals may be drastically reduced, improving overall unit economics and reducing the environmental footprint of HALT processing.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.

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是加速销毁有毒全氟烷基和多氟烷基 (PFAS)（也被广泛称为“永久化学品”）的新技术。然而，它们是极其顽固的环境污染物，对人类具有剧毒，并且对附近地点的土壤、地下水和饮用水造成广泛污染。机场、军事基地和生产基地正在推动全球努力消除和销毁 PFAS 毒素，而 PFAS 毒素很难通过焚烧分解，而且它们没有自然半衰期。环境修复行业需要有效的技术来进行现场处理。 SBIR 第二阶段项目正在开发的技术具有能源效率、可扩展性，可与现有技术相结合，并可大规模部署用于销毁富含 PFAS 的废物。 SBIR 二期项目旨在减少与系统腐蚀和化学品消耗相关的技术风险，用于开发和扩大用于破坏 PFAS 的水热碱处理 (HALT) 工艺，水热工艺历来一直受到腐蚀和低浓度挑战的困扰。组件寿命，和/或需要使用昂贵的合金、可更换的系统组件和/或优雅的化学腐蚀预防策略。这就是说，水热工艺是销毁危险废物的一些最有效和高效的技术，例如。该项目将重点关注测量和缓解材料腐蚀挑战，以实现更广泛地采用水热工艺进行废物处理。此外，HALT 工艺需要使用碱性化学品作为工艺添加剂。在该项目中，通过采用化学回收策略，化学品的使用可能会大大减少，从而提高整体单位经济效益并减少 HALT 处理的环境足迹。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。