The EPA estimates that one out of every four Americans lives within three miles of a hazardous waste site. Over 450,000 brownfield sites are awaiting remediation and 1,280 sites on the National Priorities List. Potential Responsible Parties or the Superfund program are tasked with remediating these sites, but insufficient funding and growing number of sites have led to significant delays. The US remediation market has been growing steadily since 2009, averaging 2-3% increases per year, and the global environmental remediation technology market is forecasted to expand to $80.5 billion in 2019. Clearly there is a societal need and market potential for innovative remediation technologies that decrease cost and increase efficacy. In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO) is the fastest growing remediation technique as it is lower cost, more effective, and less disruptive than other methods. However, current ISCO methods require gaseous or liquid-form oxidizers that pose significant hazard to workers during transport and delivery and often require multiple injections, which increase cost and exposure risk. AxNano, in collaboration with North Carolina A&T, has developed Controlled Release Polymer Structures (CRPS) as a slow release ISCO technology that will transform the environmental remediation industry by: (1) mitigating exposure risk during deployment by encapsulating the reactive agents within a safe, easy to handle, solid matrix; (2) allowing for efficient treatment of contaminated groundwater via sustained release of high doses of reactive agents with a single application. This Phase I project will determine design parameters to enhance the efficacy of our patented CRPS for ISCO remediation of contaminated groundwater. The CRPS will be optimized by maximizing the oxidative agent(s) loading while maintaining a stable solid structure. Proof-of-concept tests will be conducted under varied conditions (i.e., pH, temperature, and density) in dynamic flow column studies that mimic those present in the subsurface environment. Broad spectrum efficacy of the optimized CRPS to transform two classes of Superfund-relevant contaminants (i.e., chlorinated compounds and polyaromatic hydrocarbons), will be tested over a range of concentrations to yield dose response curves. Collectively, the results of this Phase I will be used to model the performance of these materials in realistic environments and guide planning of pilot scale field studies. Phase I work will also involve designing a plan for scale-up manufacturing and preparing for pilot field testing. Scale-up design, cost of manufacturing, and deployment strategies of this solid phase material compared to current liquid and gaseous ISCO remediation technologies will also be evaluated in order to determine the feasibility of transitioning this technology to a commercial product.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, one out of five Americans lives within four miles of a hazardous waste site. Current methods for cleaning contaminated water sources are expensive, disruptive to the surrounding ecosystem and community, and often require multiple applications to ensure efficacy. AxNano, in collaboration with North Carolina A&T, is developing a controlled-release system that would treat contaminated groundwater through a sustained, single-application treatment that will lower cost, lower labor requirements, shorten the overall clean-up cycle, and mitigate exposure risk to workers during deployment.
