team photo

Figure 1
project photo

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Team 9

Team Members

Faculty Advisor

John Gafney
Audrey Karl
Patrick Mularzuk
Christiana Nisco

Jeffrey McCutcheon

Sponsor

N/A

sponsored by
sponsor logo

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are a class of thousands of chemicals that are used in anything from firefighting foams to non-stick materials. These resilient compounds seep into the water supply and accumulate in human tissues. PFCs have been linked to non-quantified health effects. Most conventional processes do not adequately remove PFCs from wastewater.The goal of this project is to remove, concentrate, and destroy PFCs (like PFAS and PFOA) from wastewater. The acceptable level of removal was determined based on EPA regulations suggested in the PFAS Action Act of 2019. We chose to use a combination of Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) and Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatments to remove PFAS. We analyzed the energy consumption of filtering wastewater over time and volume (kW-hr/m^3 ), productivity of the process (m^3 /day), and cost of the system, both economic ($/ m^3 ) and environmental (carbon footprint*). Through this project, we hope to remediate the contamination of PFAS in the environment and prevent negative health impacts that come with human consumption.