Functional Activated Carbons for Water Contaminant Removal
Multiple carbon grains create a contactorAble to reduce perchlorate from 20 parts per billion to less than 4 parts per billionEffective for a variety of organic and inorganic contaminants
Background:Chemical contamination of surface and subsurface waters can result from abandoned waste disposal sites, leaking storage tanks, mining, and many others. Chemical contaminants can include oxyanions which can be difficult to remove from contaminated waters and soils due to kinetic and thermodynamic properties. Some of these oxyanions of environmental concern are perchlorate, sulfate, sulfite, nitrate, and nitrite. High sulfate concentrations are present in acid mine drainage, which creates a serious environmental hazard. Therefore, a successful material or process that can remove low perchlorate and/or sulfate concentrations from water is needed. Invention Description:The proposed invention is an activated carbon material for removing a contaminant from a liquid. Multiple carbon grains can be used to create a contactor that is able to reduce perchlorate from 20 parts per billion to less than 4 parts per billion. This contactor can remove a variety of species from water including anionic species, oxyanions, perchlorate, arsenate, arsenite, chromate, sulfate, and others. In addition, this contactor may also remove organic species such as natural organic matter, endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceutical products, ibuprofen, and DEET. This carbon material has numerous applications in the environmental and industrial fields.
USA

