Authors: Manmeet W. Pannu, Andrew Huang, Megan H. Plumlee
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wer.11035
Synopsis:
- A pilot-scale comparative analysis of FLUORO-SORB® FLEX 200 and various ion exchange resins (5) in contaminated, non-potable irrigation groundwater from Anaheim, CA was done over 19 months. Sorbent selection was based on a 2021 survey of promising products marketed for removal of PFAS
- Note: FLUORO-SORB® FLEX 200 is not discontinued, but instead is undergoing further evaluation prior to commercialization
- FLUORO-SORB® FLEX 200 and one ion exchange resin were the longest lasting adsorbents for long chain PFAS
- T50% or breakthrough of 50% for PFOA occurred with FLUORO-SORB® FLEX 200 after 286,000 bed volumes. No breakthrough of PFOS and PFHxS was observed over to 19-month study
- Utilization of short EBCT (~1 min) for pilot studies was shown to be scalable to real-life applications at higher EBCTs (2 min) up to T50% for FLUORO-SORB® FLEX 200 within 20-30% accuracy, which is said to be enough accuracy for practitioners to predict performance and bed-life
Brief: FLUORO-SORB® FLEX 200, an iteration of CETCO’s surface modified clay for PFAS remediation, was compared to several other promising ion exchange resins for PFAS remediation, where it had superior performance compared to all but one ion exchange resin in contaminated groundwater for long chain PFAS. Additionally, it was shown that FLUORO-SORB® FLEX 200 pilot studies operated at shorter EBCT’s can be scaled up to reasonably predict real-scale treatment bed-life’s up to T50%
