AxNano, LLC SBIR Fasttrack 2019 1 The EPA estimates that one out of every four Americans lives within three miles of a hazardous waste 2 site. To meet the growing need for remediating these contaminated sites, the US remediation market has been 3 increasing steadily since 2009, averaging 2-3% increases per year. The global environmental remediation 4 technology market is forecasted to expand to $80.5 billion in 2019. Remediation of contaminated sites can cost 5 upwards of millions of dollars and can last for decades, especially in challenging geological settings such as low 6 permeability (low-k) zones (e.g., clay and bedrock). Sites where contaminants are concentrated in low 7 permeability zones are a particular industry headache as these areas can serve as sub-surface source zones 8 providing slow release of contaminants into transmissive zones for decades of longer. Traditional, liquid-phase 9 remediation injections that are successfully used in more permeable areas, when applied to low-k zones often 10 result in only partial clean-up followed by chronic site management. Costly re-applications to address 11 rebounding (increases in contaminant concentration following remediation) and tailings (persistent non-zero 12 contaminant levels) are one of the biggest pain-points for environmental engineers. These rebounding and 13 tailings lead to increase liability, increased remediation cost, and long drawn-out remediation schemes. AxNano, 14 in collaboration with North Carolina A&T, has specially formulated their patented controlled release technology 15 to address these persistent low-k zones. RemRx® CRI, controlled release injectant, can be emplaced into low k 16 zones by hydraulic fracturing and provide sustained levels of ISCO reagents directly into the trapped 17 contaminated area with one/few applications to address these issues of rebounding and tailings. 18 AxNano has established prototypes and preliminary studies to support a Fasttrack SBIR program. Phase 19 I of the program will support the development RemRx® CRI, through bench-scale testing of prototypes in low- 20 k zone 2-D flow chambers and radius of influence estimation by computational modeling. Phase II aims to pilot- 21 scale demonstrate manufacturing the Phase I-validated MVP and field test at two sites in the Piedmont Region. 22 Field demonstrations will include comparison to straight oxidant performance. Data from pilot-scale 23 demonstration and computational modeling will be used to design full-scale deployments. AxNano will design 24 a full scale manufacturing process to support transition of the RemRxTM CRI technology to future large scale 25 deployment. 26 This technology development program leverages a unique intellectual property position to develop this 27 new RemRxTM family of products. The remediation and broader water/wastewater markets are complex, making 28 market uptake of new remediation technologies difficult. However, controlled release ISCO agents are of strong 29 interest. The AxNano Team is committed to achieving the successful commercialization of this high-impact 30 technology.
Public Health Relevance Statement: Project Narrative Hazardous chemicals released into the environment can get trapped in low permeability zones in the ground, like clay or bedrock, contaminating drinking water sources or affecting indoor air quality for decades or longer. Remediation of these low permeability zones is difficult using current methods and amendments, thus common approaches are focused on treating fluxes from the areas instead of targeting the sources themselves. To meet this need, AxNano LLC, is developing RemRxTM CRI, an injectable controlled-release in situ chemical oxidation material that can be placed into low permeability zones via hydraulic fracturing, that will lower total project cost, shorten the overall clean-up cycle, and decrease chronic human exposure resulting from hazardous chemical releases.
NIH Spending Category: Bioengineering; Health Effects of Indoor Air Pollution
Project Terms: Address; Affect; Amendment; American; Area; Behavior; Biological Models; Case Study; chemical release; chemical stability; Chemicals; Chronic; clay; Collaborations; commercialization; Complex; Computer Simulation; contaminated drinking water; controlled release; cost; Coupling; Data; Databases; design; Development; drinking water; Environment; Environmental Engineering technology; Environmental Pollution; Evaluation; exposed human population; Family; field study; Formulation; Fracture; Future; Geology; global environment; ground water; Hazardous Chemicals; Hazardous Waste; Headache; i(19); improved; In Situ; Indoor Air Quality; Industry; Infrastructure; Injectable; Injections; innovation; Intellectual Property; interest; Lead; Legal patent; Liquid substance; manufacturing process; Measures; Methods; Modeling; Monitor; North Carolina; off-patent; Oxidants; oxidation; Pain; Performance; Permeability; Phase; Positioning Attribute; Process; Program Development; programs; prototype; Radial; Reagent; remediation; Risk; Scheme; Secure; Site; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Societies; Soil; Source; South Carolina; success; Surface; Surveys; Tail; Techniques; Technology; technology development; Testing; TimeLine; transmission process; uptake; vapor intrusion; Water
