SBIR-STTR Award

On-site generation technology utilizes common salt (sodium chloride) which is made in to a dilute brine solution that is converted in an electrolytic cell to a chlorine-based liquid disinfectant. The chlorine component is important since the US EPA requires a chlorine disinfection residual value in drinking water in the United States. There are no hazardous materials used, consumed or produced in the process. The product produced is not hazardous since the concentration of the oxidant is less than 1%. Operating costs are very low compared to chlorine gas or commercial sodium hypochlorite (bleach) since consumbables are commonly available salt and electrical power. The commercial applications of this technology are significant world-wide and include potable water, wastewater, cooling towers, swimming pools, and other applications requiring a chlorine-based disinfectant. System sizes range from large municipal water applications to individual use devices for both the commercial and military sectors. Mixed-oxidant variants of the disinfectant have been demonstrated to reduce disinfection by-products (trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids) and provide other significant chemistry benefits for potable water, cooling towers, swimming pools, and other applications

The objective of the research presented in this Phase II proposal is to extend and understand the success of the Phase I work and to conduct the work plans developed in the Phase I activities. The primary objective of this research is to develop answers that will remove barriers to implementation of on-site generation technology as a replacement for chlorine gas, and to provide scientific answers that will help implement application of on-site generated mixed-oxidants to a wider variety of water treatment applications. The four areas of research will be Cryptosporidium parvum inactivation, oxidant speciation, electrolytic cell coating optimization, and biofilm removal.