Together with Cornelsen Umwelttechnologie GmbH, Fraunhofer UMSICHT has developed a procedure to remove PFAS from water. With the patented PerfluorAd technology, aqueous media can be treated effectively and cost-effectively.
It is well known that perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pose a risk to humans and the environment. Numerous industrial and everyday products contain these harmful substances, including textiles, cosmetics, packaging materials and fire-fighting foams. The substances find their way into the environment through air and wastewater. This is how they enter the food chain and ultimately the human organism. This group of substances includes over 10,000 different chemicals with proven human- and ecotoxicological effects. However, there are currently still no alternatives for many applications.
Parallel project for data-based process optimization
The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT and Cornelsen Umwelttechnologie GmbH are now tackling this problem. Together, they have developed a market-ready process that can be used to remove PFAS from aqueous media. In order to adapt the process to the requirements of international markets, for example, the current NRW project Perfluor.Dat is also pursuing comprehensive data-based process optimization.
Process already successfully implemented
Since 2008, Fraunhofer UMSICHT and Cornelsen have been working together to find solutions for the removal of PFAS from water. The PerfluorAd process emerged from this long-standing cooperation to economically purify media such as extinguishing water in particular, which have elevated PFAS concentrations and/or high organic background levels.
Many water treatment projects have already been carried out in which, depending on the application, the PFAS-specific precipitation process of the PerfluorAd process is combined with established treatment technologies such as ion exchange, membrane processes or activated carbon adsorption. In this way, the two institutes are helping to minimize the total amount of PFAS waste to be disposed of.
With the start of the new project, the PerfluorAd process will now be further developed. Over the next three years, Perfluor.Dat intends to intensify both the PFAS-specific precipitation process and the separation step for the PFAS-containing precipitate. Functional co-additives and new analytical methods for process monitoring and control will be used. In addition, the project will analyze the process data collected in recent years from various applications using pattern recognition. Ideally, this will result in a process model that can be verified by tests in a mobile test reactor.
PerfluorAd is also to be used internationally
At the Perfluor.Dat kick-off meeting, the interdisciplinary team organized itself into three specialist groups.
Dr. Stefano Bruzzano, the project coordinator at Fraunhofer UMSICHT, emphasizes the importance of the project: "The new R&D project has enabled us to set the course for making our PerfluorAd process even more efficient and flexible for the future."
The participants have also long had their sights set on international applications. The information gained with Perfluor.Dat is also intended to support the increasing internationalization of the PerfluorAd® process, which is partly taking place under significantly changed framework conditions.
