Hydrothermal system for treatment of adsorbent regeneration byproducts
AssigneeUniversity of Washington
InventorsBrian Pinkard, Igor Novosselov
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A continuous reactor and method for destroying contaminants, such as perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substances in various feedstocks. Liquid byproducts are continuously hydrolyzed in an aqueous alkaline solution to achieve greater than 99.99% destruction of the contaminants. Continuous hydrolysis achieves a greater conversion efficiency as compared to batch reactions and has a wide application of contaminated feedstocks.
Claims25
A method for destroying perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substances, comprising:
- introducing a liquid byproduct including a perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substance to a reactor;
- hydrolyzing in the reactor under alkaline conditions the perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substance in the byproduct;
- and
- producing a continuous stream of product from the reactor, wherein the byproduct is selected from:
- a brine containing water, 20% wt. or less of a salt or base, and 1% wt. or less of the perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substance, or
- a solution containing 50 to 90 vol % of an alcohol, 10 to 50 vol % of water, 1 to 5 wt % of a salt or a base, and the perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substance, or
- a byproduct from ozone foam fractionate processing having 100 μg/L (ppb) to 10 mg/L (ppm) of the perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substance, or
- a byproduct from thermal treatment of soil or spent sorbents containing the perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substance, or
- a byproduct from wet scrubbers used to capture contaminants in the emission stream of incinerators, rotary kilns or other thermal destructive processes;
- or
- an aqueous film-forming foam having 0.3 to 6% by weight of the perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substance;
- or
- reverse osmosis reject brine having from 1 ug/L (ppb) to 10 mg/L (ppm) of the perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substance;
- or
- nanofiltration reject brine having from 1 ug/L (ppb) to 10 mg/L (ppm) of the perfluoroalkyl and/or polyfluoroalkyl substance.
A method for destroying a contaminant in a byproduct from an adsorbent media regeneration or reactivation process, comprising:
- introducing a byproduct from an adsorbent media regeneration or reactivation process to a reactor;
- and
- hydrolyzing in the reactor under alkaline conditions a contaminant in the byproduct, wherein the byproduct is a liquid selected from:
- a brine containing water, 20% wt. or less of a salt or base, and 1% wt. or less of the contaminant, or
- a solution containing 50 to 90 vol % of an alcohol, 10 to 50 vol % of water, 1 to 5 wt % of a salt or a base, and the contaminant.
(canceled)
A system for destruction of a contaminant in a byproduct, comprising:
- a reactor configured for continuous flow through the reactor;
- at least one pump has an inlet connected to a reservoir containing a byproduct with a contaminant, and an outlet of the at least one pump is connected to an inlet to the reactor;
- a heater to control internal temperature of the reactor;
- a pressure regulator to control internal pressure of the reactor;
- a heat exchanger to cool reactor effluent, wherein the byproduct is a liquid selected from:
- a brine containing water, 20% wt. or less of a salt or base, and 1% wt. or less of the contaminant, or
- a solution containing 50 to 90 vol % of an alcohol, 10 to 50 vol % of water, 1 to 5 wt % of a salt or a base, and the contaminant, or
- a byproduct from ozone foam fractionate processing having 100 μg/L (ppb) to 10 mg/L (ppm) of the contaminant, or
- a byproduct from thermal treatment of soil or spent sorbents containing the contaminant, or
- a byproduct from wet scrubbers used to capture contaminants in the emission stream of incinerators, rotary kilns or other thermal destructive processes;
- or
- an aqueous film-forming foam having 0.3 to 6% by weight of the contaminant;
- or
- reverse osmosis reject brine having from 1 ug/L (ppb) to 10 mg/L (ppm) of the contaminant;
- or
- nanofiltration reject brine having from 1 ug/L (ppb) to 10 mg/L (ppm) of the contaminant.
(canceled)
(canceled)
23-30. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.