SBIR-STTR Award

Advances in UV oxidation technology are permitting thetechnology to penetrate into the market for treating higher concentrations of organic waste in water. Within the past 5 years, treatment limits have increased from 10 ppm to over 1000 ppm TOC in waste waters. However, at these higher concentrations, unit treatment costs have also increased from tens of cents to tens of dollars per thousand gallons treated. A significant portion of the cost is the cost of the oxidant at theses high concentration levels.The proposed research is to demonstrate that oxidant can be produced on line at a cost of 1/3 of the bulk commercial price for oxidant.

In UV-H2O2 advanced oxidation systems, for wastewatertreatment, the cost of purchased hydrogen begins to dominate electricpower costs as contaminant concentrations increase. It was successfullydemonstrated in Phase I that oxidant could be produced on-line in thepresence of the contaminant at a cost less than the purchased price ofhydrogen peroxide. The unique method of on-line oxidant production hasgreat potential especially when treating industrial strength aqueouswaste. The Phase II effort will explore contaminant streams for which theprocess is applicable and the limits of its applicability.