An Investigation of Thermal Air Degradation and Pyrolysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Aqueous Film-Forming Foams in Soil

Alinezhad, Ali; Sasi, Pavankumar Challa; Zhang, Ping; Yao, Bin; Kubátová, Alena; Golovko, Svetlana A.; Golovko, Mikhail Y.; Xiao, Feng

doi:10.1021/acsestengg.1c00335

Cited by 51 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 103 publications

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“…Thermal treatment likely alters the speciation of PFAS in soil. For example, the thermal decomposition of PFAAs and polyfluoroalkyl substances in laboratory tests yields various transient intermediates, including shorter‐chained PFAAs (Alinezhad et al., 2022; Sasi et al., 2021; Xiao et al., 2021). However, the long‐term effect of thermal processes on the fate and transport of PFAS in surface and subsurface environments remains unclear, which is worthy of future study.…”

Section: Challenges and Future Research Priorities And Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Subsurface Environments: Occurrence, Fate, Transport, and Research Prospect

Lyu

Xiao

Shen

et al. 2022

Reviews of Geophysics

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Per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), also known as “forever chemicals,” are manmade chemicals that have been increasingly detected in various geological settings since the early 2000s. The soil and subsurface environments are the geological media commonly affected by PFAS. We conducted a comprehensive review of peer‐reviewed articles published from 2010 through 2022 concerning the fate and transport of PFAS in subsurface environments. This review is organized into different subsections, covering the basics of PFAS properties and how they affect the occurrence, fate, and transport of PFAS, the fundamental processes affecting subsurface transport and fate of PFAS, and mathematical models for describing and predicting PFAS transport behaviors. Mechanisms governing PFAS transport in the subsurface environment, including the sorption of PFAS at the air‐water interface, solid‐water interface, and nonaqueous phase liquids‐water interface, were explored in detail. Challenges and future research priorities are identified to better mitigate the global challenges of PFAS contamination.

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Section: Challenges and Future Research Priorities And Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Subsurface Environments: Occurrence, Fate, Transport, and Research Prospect

Lyu

Xiao

Shen

et al. 2022

Reviews of Geophysics

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“…It is common for GAC to adsorb inorganic fluoride during water treatment. In addition, the chemisorption of F radicals onto GAC during PFAS decomposition is possible as observed by Alinezhad et al (2022) in the case of PFAS degradation in the presence of kaolinite clay. The presence of organofluorine compounds absent from the targeted PFAS analysis cannot be discounted (Sasi et al, 2021;Xiao et al, 2020;Yao et al, 2022).…”

Section: Analyticalmentioning

confidence: 91%

Thermal destruction of PFAS during full‐scale reactivation of PFAS‐laden granular activated carbon

DiStefano

Feliciano

Mimna

et al. 2022

Remediation Journal

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Granular activated carbon (GAC) is the most widely used and well-established treatment technology for the removal of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminants from drinking water and wastewater. After the GAC has reached the end of its useful service life and become "spent carbon," it is common practice in industry to thermally treat it in a process known as reactivation. The reactivation process volatilizes and destroys adsorbed contaminants at high temperatures and restores the GAC to a near-virgin state so that it can be reused. Since the advent of PFAS regulatory actions, questions have arisen about the effectiveness of the reactivation process for the destruction of PFAS given their high thermal stability and the lack of documented study on this new topic. In light of this, a thorough program of testing was carried out at a full-scale GAC reactivation facility during the reactivation of a load of GAC known to contain adsorbed PFAS. The facility employs a multihearth Herreschoff furnace and a downstream abatement train that includes a thermal oxidizer, spray quench cooler, dry injection scrubber, and baghouse. All inputs and outputs of the system were tested for targeted PFAS compounds and fluoride (total and as hydrogen fluoride). Under typical operating conditions, the system demonstrated both full removal of PFAS compounds from GAC and >99.99% destruction of PFAS compounds through the furnace and abatement system.Additional key findings include: (1) a large portion of the PFAS destruction occurs in the furnace, before the thermal oxidizer; (2) the fluoride mass balance was close to 61.4%; and (3) emission levels were significantly lower than available public data for PFAS manufacturing emissions.

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“…58 Recently, some fluorinated olefins have been identified as thermal decomposition products of PFOS. 84 3.2.3. Perfluorocarbons.…”

Section: Decomposition Initiation Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of these mass fragments strongly suggests that VOF is a product of thermolysis of PFSAs . Recently, some fluorinated olefins have been identified as thermal decomposition products of PFOS …”

Section: Decomposition Initiation Products Mechanisms and Kineticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Review of Thermal Decomposition of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: Mechanisms and Implications for Thermal Treatment Processes

Wang

Lin

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

104

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Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are fluorinated organic chemicals that are concerning due to their environmental persistence and adverse human and ecological effects. Remediation of environmental PFAS contamination and their presence in consumer products have led to the production of solid and liquid waste streams containing high concentrations of PFASs, which require efficient and cost-effective treatment solutions. PFASs are challenging to defluorinate by conventional and advanced destructive treatment processes, and physical separation processes produce waste streams (e.g., membrane concentrate, spent activated carbon) requiring further post-treatment. Incineration and other thermal treatment processes are widely available, but their use in managing PFAS-containing wastes remains poorly understood. Under specific operating conditions, thermal treatment is expected to mineralize PFASs, but the degradation mechanisms and pathways are unknown. In this review, we critically evaluate the thermal decomposition mechanisms, pathways, and byproducts of PFASs that are crucial to the design and operation of thermal treatment processes. We highlight the analytical capabilities and challenges and identify research gaps which limit the current understanding of safely applying thermal treatment to destroy PFASs as a viable end-of-life treatment process.

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An Investigation of Thermal Air Degradation and Pyrolysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Aqueous Film-Forming Foams in Soil

Cited by 51 publications

References 103 publications

Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Subsurface Environments: Occurrence, Fate, Transport, and Research Prospect

Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Subsurface Environments: Occurrence, Fate, Transport, and Research Prospect

Thermal destruction of PFAS during full‐scale reactivation of PFAS‐laden granular activated carbon

Critical Review of Thermal Decomposition of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: Mechanisms and Implications for Thermal Treatment Processes

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