Using Electrochemical Oxidation to Remove PFAS in Simulated Investigation-Derived Waste (IDW): Laboratory and Pilot-Scale Experiments

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T1 - Using Electrochemical Oxidation to Remove PFAS in Simulated Investigation-Derived Waste (IDW)

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln School of Natural Resources and Water Science Laboratory with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Small Business Innovation Research Program (EPA SBIR, Contract: 68HERC20C0033) and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development’s matching SBIR grant program (Contract: 20-01-074). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.

N2 - Repeated use of aqueous firefighting foams at military aircraft training centers has contaminated groundwater with per and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). To delineate the extent of PFAS contamination, numerous site investigations have occurred, which have generated large quantities of investigation-derived wastes (IDW). The commonly used treatment of incinerating PFAS-tainted IDW is costly, and was recently suspended by the Department of Defense. Given long-term IDW storage in warehouses is not sustainable, our objective was to use electrochemical oxidation to degrade PFAS in contaminated water and then scale the technology toward IDW treatment. This was accomplished by conducting a series of laboratory and pilot-scale experiments that electrochemically oxidized PFAS using direct current with boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes. To improve destruction efficiency, and understand factors influencing degradation rates, we quantified the treatment effects of current density, pH, electrolyte and PFAS chain length. By using 14C-labeled perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and tracking temporal changes in both 14C-activity and fluoride concentrations, we showed that oxidation of the carboxylic head (-14COOH → 14CO2) was possible and up to 60% of the bonded fluorine was released into solution. We also reported the efficacy of a low-cost, 3D printed, four-electrode BDD reactor that was used to treat 189 L of PFOA and PFOS-contaminated water (Co ≤ 10 µg L−1). Temporal monitoring of PFAS with LC/MS/MS in this pilot study showed that PFOS concentrations decreased from 9.62 µg L−1 to non-detectable (