Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Weitz, Keith
• Kantner, Debra
• Kessler, Andrew
• Key, Haley
• Larson, Judd
• Bodnar, Wanda
• Parvathikar, Sameer
• Davis, Lynn
• Robey, Nicole
• Taylor, Philip
• De la Cruz, Florentino
• Tolaymat, Thabet
• Weber, Nathan
• Linak, William
• Krug, Jonathan
• Phelps, Lara

Titel

Review of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl treatment in combustion-based thermal waste systems in the United States

Ist Teil von

• The Science of the total environment, 2024-07, Vol.932, p.172658-172658, Article 172658

Ort / Verlag

Netherlands: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of synthetic chemicals known for their widespread presence and environmental persistence. Carbon-fluorine (C-F) bonds are major components among PFAS and among the strongest organic bonds, thus destroying PFAS may present significant challenge. Thermal treatment such as incineration is an effective and approved method for destroying many halogenated organic chemicals. Here, we present the results of existing studies and testing at combustion-based thermal treatment facilities and summarize what is known regarding PFAS destruction and mineralization at such units. Available results suggest the temperature and residence times reached by some thermal treatment systems are generally favorable to the destruction of PFAS, but the possibility for PFAS or fluorinated organic byproducts to escape destruction and adequate mineralization and be released into the air cannot be ruled out. Few studies have been conducted at full-scale operating facilities, and none to date have attempted to characterize possible fluorinated organic products of incomplete combustion (PICs). Further, the ability of existing air pollution control (APC) systems, designed primarily for particulate and acid gas control, to reduce PFAS air emissions has not been determined. These data gaps remain primarily due to the previous lack of available methods to characterize PFAS destruction and PIC concentrations in facility air emissions. However, newly developed stack testing methods offer an improved understanding of the extent to which thermal waste treatment technologies successfully destroy and mineralize PFAS in these waste streams. [Display omitted] •Review of 7 laboratory scale studies and 18 commercial or pilot-scale facilities•PFAS can be destroyed (∼99.99 %) in thermal treatment systems operating at >850 °C.•Thermal treatment of PFAS may emit fluorinated products of incomplete combustion.•Efficiency depends on feedstock, combustor design, and operating temperatures.•Information about PFAS decomposition and methods for measuring PFAS PICs are needed.