The Superfund program is intended to provide remediation of hazardous substances at abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Health issues require that such clean ups proceed promptly and throughly. However, the cost of remediation of such sites is estimated at billions of dollars annually over the next several decades. It is imperative that more cost-effective technologies be developed to moderate the societal cost of clean up of these sites. The goal of the proposed research project is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of a new remediation technology, photocatalysis. Evidence suggests that this technology can reduce remediation costs by an order of magnitude over that of current technology. The research plan includes development of novel photocatalysts and reactor systems for an Adsorption-Integrated-Reaction (AIR) technology, to destroy chlorinated hydrocarbons with high activity and with very high selectivity. KSE, Inc. has developed photocatalysts which are orders of magnitude more active than conventional titania photocatalysts. The new catalysts are also more selective. The research project will consist of synthesis of catalyst compositions, kinetic studies on representative classes of volatile organic compounds, reactor design studies, and a design analysis which establishes feasibility of the concept. It is anticipated that an effective remediation technology will be developed, providing a cost-effective tool for remediation of Superfund sites.
