Systems and methods for electrochemically enhanced water filtration

#Embodiments of the invention relate generally to techniques for water filtration, and more specifically to systems and methods for electrochemically enhanced water filtration.

#The exponential industrial growth and rapid changes in day-to-day activities of human beings has resulted in an increase in the volume and complexity of waste in the air, water and soil. Although various methods have been proposed to treat water/wastewater contaminated with organic compounds, the use of activated carbon (AC) either as powder (PAC) or granular (GAC) for the adsorption of contaminants is among the most commonly used and widely preferred method. The unique adsorption characteristics of AC depend on its specific surface area, pore structure as well as its surface functional groups. However, the adsorbent capacity to bind contaminants depletes during treatment so that porosity can become progressively saturated and inactive, which in turn, may require the spent media to be further treated (reactivation/regeneration).

#Electrochemical and electrochemically-induced processes are widely studied for water treatment purposes; from heavy metals removal (electrocoagulation) and desalination (capacitive deionization) to organic pollutants oxidation and disinfection. Although electrochemical treatment has strong advantages such as: (i) no need for chemicals addition; (ii) automatic control and manipulation of water chemistry; (iii) scalability; and (iv) use of alternative power sources, technologies are yet to be developed for complete contaminant removal and simultaneous treatment of complex systems such as water containing contaminant mixtures. While some applications of three-dimensional (3D) GAC have been developed for GAC regeneration and/or support of electrochemical oxidation organic pollutants, the systems for these applications, however, only allow for generation of a bipolar system having packed beds (not isolated particles), use costly feeder electrodes, and are not suitable for simultaneous electrosorption, oxidation/reduction of pollutants and/or carbon regeneration.

#The present invention will be better understood from reading the following description of non-limiting embodiments, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein below:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electrochemical setup with a 2D electric field, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a wireless bipolar electrode in a one-dimensional (1D) electric field, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

#Reference will be made below in detail to exemplary embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference characters used throughout the drawings refer to the same or like parts, without duplicative description.

#As used herein, the terms “substantially,” “generally,” and “about” indicate conditions within reasonably achievable manufacturing and assembly tolerances, relative to ideal desired conditions suitable for achieving the functional purpose of a component or assembly. The term “real-time” means a level of processing responsiveness that a user senses as sufficiently immediate or that enables the processor to keep up with an external process.

#Additionally, while the embodiments disclosed herein are primarily described with respect to water treatment/purification, it is to be understood that embodiments of the invention may be applicable to other types of filtration processes involving liquids other than water.