Wastewater facilities regularly receive per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminated influent flow. While the treatment process does not increase the PFAS load, typical processes also do little to reduce contamination released to the environment. Certain PFAS partition to the solids generated during treatment and undergo further processing. Pyrolysis systems offer the potential to destroy PFAS, especially when coupled with a thermal oxidizer for off-gas treatment. Only sparse information can be found on the fate of PFAS through high-temperature process, and even less when considering wastewater applications. The information currently available suggests some PFAS destruction or removal will occur through the pyrolysis process, but no information has been published after the thermal oxidizer. This paper discusses a collaborative research effort to define PFAS behaviour through a laboratory-scale pyrolyzer and thermal oxidizer validated against performance from a full-scale facility.

PFAS Fate in Pyrolysis System Reflecting Full-Scale Configurations – Thermal Oxidizer Impacts
Authors: Lloyd Winchell, Franco Berruti, Alexandre Miot, John Ross, Mary Lou Romero, Aren Hansen
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