Progress 07/01/06 to 06/30/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In a research university, we advance the goals of education and new approaches for sustainability by working with graduate students to develop new knowledge and innovations for a better tomorrow. This work demonstrated active research in the area of sustainable solutions for water resources, with considerable impact on individuals, communities, and environmental quality in a regional, national, and international context. The research has had five US patents issued in the past four years for new approaches for sustainable water treatment where the work product successfully engineered processes that are modeled on nature. Citations, awards, and impacts for this research include: - The Association of University Technology Managers (2006) cited this water treatment technology as one of "25 Innovations that Changed the World," alongside inventions such as the Google search engine and the artificial knee; - The Science Coalition (2006) selected this water treatment research as one of fifteen national "examples of how Americans can benefit from their investment in university research through scientific advances," in their 10th anniversary report, "University Research: America's Competitive Edge"; - Industry (2003‐2012) licensed five water treatment technology patents; three scaled‐up with third‐party engineering analysis; start‐up company and major multinational corporate commercialization; + Blue Water Technologies, Inc., with corporate offices and a manufacturing facility in Hayden, ID is an advanced water treatment company that started in 2003 using this technology. It has grown to 25 employees, with a national and international distributor network. Blue Water started with $10.4M of investment capital, and has $6M in annual revenues; - The Water Environment Federation (2009) "a technical and educational organization with 36,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world," awarded the Harrison Prescott Eddy Medal, their highest research recognition, to the research team for their contribution to the knowledge and fundamental principles of water treatment. PARTICIPANTS: The major outside participant in this research was Remy Newcombe, Ph.D. Blue Water Technologies, Inc. she received her Ph.D. in Civil engineering as a result of this work. TARGET AUDIENCES: This work impacted communities and industries in need of higher efficiency municipal waste water treatment. Water engineers now have an additional set of water treatment tools to positively impact environmental quality. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
These new reactive filtration technologies have met with commercial success for community and industrial wastewater treatment, and they have been installed across the United States and in six other countries, including a US municipality that was issued the lowest nutrient phosphorus discharge permit in the nation. Several hundred thousand people across the globe now have softer impact on water resources because of these innovations. International leaders in the water treatment field have noted the caliber of his achievement as a sustainable solution for water resources: "Professor Moller has the ability to bridge the gap between science and engineering, from discovery to application. Few researchers are able to move between those worlds with his apparent ease. His proven record of moving from scientific discovery to process piloting testing, and eventually full -scale engineering application of reactive filtration is an outstanding demonstration of practical science and engineering that improves our quality of life and the quality of the environment." - J.B. Neethling, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, Senior Vice President, Wastewater Treatment & Effluent Management Director, HDR Inc., a global firm with 7,800 employees providing architecture, engineering, consulting, construction, and related services (2011). "It is a rare occurrence that any new water treatment technology development meets with success in the marketplace. Rarer still, is the occurrence that a new development helps build the foundation for a start-up company's success. Both of these are true for Professor Moller's reactive filtration process. To go from bench-scale research to installation in municipal wastewater treatment facilities in less than a decade in the conservative water engineering sector is a significant achievement, and this is especially true when the technology contributes to driving the limits of performance, such as observed with reactive filtration. The novelty, sound engineering, and robust performance of Professor Moller's reactive filtration are significant in the arena of advanced water treatment. It is truly a significant and vital contribution to the fundamental principles and processes of water treatment." - Glen T. Daigger, Ph.D., PE, DEE, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Technical Fellow and Chief Wastewater Process Engineer, CH2M HILL, a global consulting, design, design-build, operations, and program management firm, with 30,000 employees worldwide and gross 2010 revenues of US$6.3 billion (2011).
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities - We performed a full municipal wastewater treatment plant mass balance sampling for trace mercury. Over 300 samples were taken under a strict and complex sampling protocol to ensure data quality at the very low ng/L levels of typical contamination. The samples included raw influent, primary treated sewage, activated sludge, biosolids, secondary treated wastewater, and water from two stages of our reactive filtration process that included two reactors in series and their effluents and reject water. Samples were analyzed for total Hg, reactive Hg, and methyl mercury at ultra-trace levels. A mass balance for Hg in a municipal wastewater treatment plant is under development. Our corporate partners have performed cooperative pilot studies using a 25 gpm reactive filtration apparatus at several municipal wastewater treatment plants. Both studies show good Hg removal activity ranging from 60% to 96% depending on the initial level of contamination. Our recent industry cooperative, 25 gpm pilot-scale research in Virginia, Minnesota, Idaho, and Alaska has applied reactive filtration for mercury removal, at sites with 3-6 MGD treatment need levels. These trials have demonstrated success showing process effluent treatment to below the 1-2 ng/L level required by the most stringent discharge permits. In other site pilot work, 96% of the mercury from the effluent of a coal plant scrubber was removed from 180 ng/L to 6.5 ng/L, without significant site optimization for this application. We are currently conducting laboratory studies of Hg speciation, organic thiol and sulfide ligand complexation, and process chemodynamics to understand the mechanism of Hg removal by reactive filtration. The data have been analyzed and are currently being developed into a manuscript for peer-review and publication. Products - Two new patents have issued: US Patent 7,744,764 and US Patent 7,713,423; these have been licensed by industry. A new collaboration with researchers from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept at Washington State University was developed. PARTICIPANTS: PI: Gregory Moller Partner Organizations: Blue Water Technologies, Inc.; Hayden Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, Hayden, Idaho; Washington State University. Collaborators: University of Idaho Daniel Strawn, Division of Plant Soils and Entomoligcal Sciences, Washington State University Marc Beutel & Stephan Dent, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Remembrance Newcombe, Blue Water Technologies. TARGET AUDIENCES: Wastewater engineers (Journals pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags) Municipal public works personnel (Journal pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags) Regulatory agencies such as EPA and state water agencies (Journal pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags) Clean water stakeholders (news media, journal pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags) Scientists in the field of water treatment and water quality risk management (Journal pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags) PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Change in knowledge - We now know that our patented and industry licensed reactive filtration technology can remove mercury from water to below the strictest discharge limits within a commercially acceptable cost basis. Change in conditions - This new water treatment process has the ability to become the driver for a new technology-based effluent discharge limit for mercury, a persistent, bioaccumulative toxicant with significant public health risk.
Publications
- Moller, G. Reactive Filtration. 2010. US Patent 7,744,764; June 29, 2010.
- Moller, G., Brackney, K., Hart, B., Newcombe, R., Korus, R. 2010. Reactive Filtration. US Patent 7,713,423; May 11, 2010.
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities: We have constructed a benchtop-scale ultrasonic oxidation reactor to further examine discrete molecular processes for micropollutant destruction. Preliminary work has been performed to look at changes in complex solutions characteristic of municipal wastewater. We have assembled a pilot process 10 gpm apparatus for acoustic treatment and we are currently field testing the apparatus for flow dynamics. Some of the process results were presented at the WERF Nonreactive Phosphorus Workshop in Spokane, WA August 12-13, 2009. Additional dissmentation activity has occured with the USPTO where two additional patents are sucessfully moving through the system and several claims have been approaved in office actions. These patents are expected to issue in early 2010. PARTICIPANTS: PI: Gregory Moller Partner Organizations: Blue Water Technologies, Inc.; Hayden Regional Wastewater treatment Facility, Hayden, Idaho Collaborators: Michael Anderson, Dept of Mechanical Engineering, University of Idaho Daniel Strawn, Division of Plant Soils and Entomoligcal Sciences, University of Idaho Ronald Hardy, Aquaculture Research Institute, University of Idaho Professional development/training: PhD student Libbie Oram TARGET AUDIENCES: The US Patent and Trademark Office office actions in 2009 have allowed almost 30 additional claims on two new patents that are expected to be issued in early 2010. The technology trasfer of the related technologies have been sucessful and water treatment systems for municipal wasterwater treatment are currently being installed internationally. A critical review of wastewater P removal mechanisms was presented to an expert workshop organized by the Water Environment Federation; the review was published and distributed by WEF. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The full technology related to that decribed in this project has been sucessfully commercialized and is being installed by industry at municipal wastewater treatment plants. The specific additional oxidation described and tested in this work is being applied to specific taget contaminants such as arsenic, however broad applciation still awaits further process testing and validation. The work of the project described in the 2008 publications was recognized by the 2009 Harrison Prescott Eddy Medal by the 40,000 member Water Environment Federation (WEF). The Harrison Prescott Eddy Medal honors research that makes a vital contribution to the existing knowledge of fundamental wastewater treatment principles or processes.
Publications
- Chapman, P. A., WJ; Brooks, M. D., CG; Luoma, S.; Maher, W.; Ohlendorf, H. M.; Presser, T. S.; Shaw, D., Eds. Ecological Assessment of Selenium in the Aquatic Environment; Chapter 2: Sources, speciation, and environmental partitioning. SETAC Press: Pensacola, FL, USA, 2010.
- Hardy, R. W., Oram, L. L. and Moller, G. (2009) Effects of Dietary Selenomethionine on Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri) Growth and Reproductive Performance Over a Life Cycle. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol DOI 10.1007/s00244-009-9392-x
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities - We have build a preliminary 10 gallon per minute catalytic oxidation reactive filtration process and tested it for several weeks in the Spring of 2008. We are modifying some engineering aspects of the process based on these early results. We have found that nutrient removal, disinfection, and trace contaminant removal are enhanced with catalytic oxidation in our reactive filtration process. Products - Two US patents were awarded in 2008: Moller, G. Reactive Filtration. US Patent 7,445,721. November 4, 2008. Moller, G., Brackney, K., Hart, B., Newcombe, R., Korus, R. Reactive Filtration. US Patent 7,399,416. July 15, 2008. The patents have been licensed to industry and the related processes are being installed at several municipalities across the US. There have been some high profile comparative technology third party engineering tests where the results were distributed to the civil and environmental engineering community and municipal wastewater managers by the third party engineers and by the licensing company. PARTICIPANTS: PI: Gregory Moller Partner Organizations: Blue Water Technologies, Inc.; Hayden Regional Wastewater treatment Facility, Hayden, Idaho A North Idaho College student was employed during the summer of 2008 by Blue Water Technologies in a cooperative research internship assisting this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Phosphorus is the limiting nutrient in eutrophication of natural waters. We developed a reactive filtration process of actively coating sand with a nano-scale coating of hydrous ferric oxide (HFO). Two journal papers were published in 2008 that described a novel process for the removal of trace concentrations of phosphorus and other contaminants from wastewater below the levels expected by previous knowledge. The engineering scale-up was performed demonstrating the process at 0.25 million gallons per day. Molecular science and thermodynamic tools were used to demonstrate that adsorption rather than precipitation allows very high efficiency removal of P from water to below background levels of most natural waters. We have extended our knowledge with this system using the HFO as a sacrificial catalyst in the presence of ozone to simultaneously oxidize trace organic contaminants in wastewater such as drug residues and hormonally active substances in wastewater. We have performed a proof of concept engineering model of this catalytic oxidation approach in a 15,000 gallons per day trial. Two US patents were awarded in 2008 for this approach to water treatment. The nutrient removal process has been licensed to industry and it has been installed at several wastewater treatment plants across the US.
Publications
- Newcombe, R.L., Rule, R. A., Hart, B.K. and Moller, G. 2008. Phosphorus Removal from Municipal Wastewater by Hydrous Ferric Oxide Reactive Filtration and Coupled Chemically Enhanced Secondary Treatment, Part I. Performance. Water Environment Research 80(3):238-247 doi:10.2175/106143007X221003.
- Newcombe, R.L., Strawn, D. G. Grant, T., Childers, S. E., and Moller, G. 2008. Phosphorus Removal from Municipal Wastewater by Hydrous Ferric Oxide Reactive Filtration and Coupled Chemically Enhanced Secondary Treatment, Part II. Mechanism. Water Environment Research 80(3): 248-256. doi:10.2175/106143007X220987.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Research and development activities for our reactive filtration technology, including some that are cooperative with a small business and a larger Fortune 500 company, have assisted in the commercial advancement of the technology developed in this work. The communities of interest include municipalities, agencies, engineers working in water treatment, and water resource managers and interest groups. The technology was reviewed in the April 2007 USEPA Office of Water and Watersheds Report "Advanced Wastewater Treatment to Achieve Low Concentration of Phosphorus"(EPA 910-R-07-002). An April 22, 2007 article in the Spokane, WA Spokesman-Review newspaper "Flushed drugs cause concern" discuss our technology. There was an industry technical presentation by a third party engineering firm (CH2M-Hill) at WEFTEC07, the international meeting of the Water Environment federation in San Diego, CA. The presentation title was: "Total Phosphorus Removal to Low Levels through Tertiary
Reactive Filtration".
PARTICIPANTS: University of Idaho Moller, G.(PI) Strawn, D. G. (Collaborator) Grant, T. (Lab asst) Childers, S. E. (Collaborator) Hart, B.K. (Post doc) Blue Water Technologies, Inc. (Collaborating small business) Newcombe, R.L. (Collaborator)
TARGET AUDIENCES: Wastewater engineers (Journals pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags) Municipal public works personnel (Journal pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags) Regulatory agencies such as EPA and state water agencies (Journal pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags) Clean water stakeholders (news media, journal pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags) Scientists in the field of water treatment and water quality risk management (Journal pubs, WEFTEC presentations, trade mags)
Impacts
In March and April 2007, an exploratory trial of catalytic oxidation was conducted. In this pilot trial, we used a flow pre-reactor without the serial acoustic array that will be in the final assembly. Operated at a 10-GPM flow rate with secondary treated, non-chlorinated municipal wastewater at the Hayden Wastewater Research Facility, the trial used a venturi to dose 5 mg/L dissolved ozone prior to a ferric iron dose of 10 mg/L with a flow pre-reactor time of 2 min. The mixture then passed through a gas-liquid separator system and into an up-flow HFOCS moving bed filter. Oxidation-reduction potentials measured 750 mV for post pre-reactor samples and 350 mV for post HFOCS reactor samples. With a total process time of 7 min, this pilot work demonstrated 97% total phosphorus removal (the key nutrient in algae growth), 68% total organic carbon removal (a surrogate for micro-pollutant removal), 3.4 log removal of fecal coliform (from 3000 to 0 cells/100 mL), 93% removal of
total viral nucleic acids (a surrogate for virus removal), and effluent turbidity at the low levels of 0.1-0.3 ntu. These are very promising initial results. A tangential but very important finding was a greater than 5% increase in P removal with the addition of an oxidant from our typical reactive filtration process. The reactive filtration process (described in the WER publication of this activity period), has demonstrated reliable 90% P removal. The additional P removal demonstrated with oxidation suggests this approach is suitable for non-reactive phosphorous and may allow dischargers with severe P limits on their discharge water to come into compliance. This was recently demonstrated when this approach was transferred to the corporate licensee and successfully demonstrated at pilot scale in a wastewater plant in Florida. The contaminant and pathogen removal water treatment technologies developed in this work have had three major impacts: 1) removal of nutrient P to level below
natural background which can limit or reverse eutrophication from discharges into natural waters; 2) reduced contaminant loads in finished waters can be used to enhance water treatment plant efficiency releasing community from costly infrastructure upgrades as the community grows; and 3) intense water reuse and recycling requires a very high level of purity in treated waters to limit risk - these technology approaches allow a safer, cost effective approach to clean water.
Publications
- Newcombe, R.L., Rule, R. A., Hart, B.K. and Moller, G. 2007. Phosphorus Removal from Municipal Wastewater by Hydrous Ferric Oxide Reactive Filtration and Coupled Chemically Enhanced Secondary Treatment, Part I. Performance. Water Environment Research 80, doi:10.2175/106143007X221003.
- Newcombe, R.L., Strawn, D. G. Grant, T., Childers, S. E., and Moller, G. 2007. Phosphorus Removal from Municipal Wastewater by Hydrous Ferric Oxide Reactive Filtration and Coupled Chemically Enhanced Secondary Treatment, Part II. Mechanism. Water Environment Research 80, doi:10.2175/106143007X220987.
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
A catalytic oxidation assembly for wastewater treatment has been designed and built. The design is patent pending. It has been installed at the Hayden Waste Water Treatment Plant in Hayden, ID and the pilot process is capable of 15,000 gallon per day treatment levels. At this stage of the research we are examining novel ways to apply and catalyze the oxidants in this system. The mechanical prototype of one of these approaches has passed the preliminary testing phase and an additional disclosure of invention has been filed with the University of Idaho. A provisional patent on this development will be filed over the next month. We have tested and integrated an online total organic carbon analyzer that is being loaned to us by a commercial vendor. This will be used to optimize micropollutant removal prior to direct analysis by more specific and costly methodology. In collaborative work with another UI faculty member, we are taking samples for characterization of
background microbial contamination of the secondary treatment water. This will enable us to better assess disinfection capacity of the system when in full operation.
Impacts
We expect this system to add highly efficient micropollutant destructive removal from wastewater. In doing so we expect that this advanced oxidation approach will also disinfect the water thus removing the need for chlorination. The near thousand-fold removal of phosphorus already demonstrated by the process, coupled with the new advanced oxidation will allow enhanced water reuse and recycling in areas with limited or compromised water supplies. Since this process is already demonstrated to remove phosphorus to very low levels (<10ppb) at flows of one quarter million gallons per day, pollution credit trading is possible with process installation in highly impacted watersheds. The nutrient removal and catalytic oxidation process has been licensed by industry.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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