Topic Area: 4b. Innovative Treatment Technologies for PFAS Ex Situ

Formatted Title:

Foam Fractionation PFAS Treatment Considerations from Three Distinct Landfill Leachate Process Treatment Waste Streams

Background/Objectives:

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have multiple pathways into waste streams, presenting challenges for treatment and ultimate disposal across industries. As PFAS destruction technologies continue to develop and become more commercially available, concentrating, and minimizing the overall volume of PFAS waste will become even more important as various states have begun regulating waste containing PFAS under state environmental laws. Reducing overall volume of PFAS waste from treatment systems can reduce overall costs of treatment, liability, and environmental impact. Foam fractionation (FF), specifically for PFAS treatment, has seen significant development over the past few years in various industries now being offered by several different vendors with different designs and operations. FF is a separation technology that uses micron-sized gas bubbles to remove emerging contaminants, such as PFAS from water. Characteristics like whether a compound is a perfluorinated or polyfluorinated alkyl substance, fluorinated tail length (short-or-long), and head group can drastically affect which treatment technology will work best. PFAS molecules have hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties attracting them to the gas-liquid interfaces present in fractionation as the injected gas bubbles move through water. FF concentrates PFAS into a low volume, highly concentrated foam waste stream for further management.

Approach/Activities:

This presentation will first provide a high-level overview of current conventional and innovative PFAS treatment options that can ultimately reduce overall waste volumes of PFAS with a focus on FF technology specifically and how it ties into the current treatment train approach of those technologies and how it can be incorporated into existing treatment facilities. Potential scenarios will be evaluated where FF technology paired with waste destruction technologies could be deployed in various industries and treatment scenarios.

A bench-scale application of FF performed in November 2024 will be discussed in further detail that involved testing three distinct process waste streams from a PFAS impacted MSW landfill treatment facility that included:

Raw Leachate (Influent)
Post- Biologically Treated Leachate (Moving bed biofilm reactor -MBBR Effluent);
Post MBBR and Post Metal Removal Treated Leachate (Final Treated Effluent)

Rohan Menon

Affiliation

Refine Results

Foam Fractionation PFAS Treatment Considerations from Three Distinct Landfill Leachate Process Treatment Waste Streams