PFAS destruction by direct electron transfer at a high-potential anode, typically boron-doped diamond. Mineralizes PFAS to fluoride and CO2 at ambient pressure and temperature, currently best suited to high-concentration liquid streams.
Electrochemical oxidation passes a PFAS-bearing liquid across a high-potential anode, where direct electron transfer and surface-bound hydroxyl radicals cleave the carbon-fluorine bond. Boron-doped diamond anodes are the most widely studied because of their high oxygen overpotential and chemical stability, with magneli-phase titanium suboxide a commercial alternative offered by Aquagga and Axine.
Demonstrated destruction efficiencies for PFOA and PFOS exceed 99 percent at current densities of 10 to 50 milliamps per square centimetre. Short-chain compounds and precursors require longer residence times and higher current. Reported energy demand of roughly 30 to 150 kilowatt-hours per kilogram of PFAS destroyed makes EO competitive for IX regenerant, AFFF stockpiles, and landfill leachate concentrates rather than dilute groundwater.
Like SCWO and plasma, EO is a destruction step that complements, rather than replaces, the separation steps upstream. The combined treatment train (GAC or IX to concentrate, EO or SCWO or thermal to destroy) is the architecture most state and federal programs are now scoping for PFAS sites.
Also known as: EO, electrochemical PFAS destruction, boron-doped diamond anode.
PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances): treatment approach
A family of thousands of synthetic fluorinated organics — including PFOA, PFOS, GenX, PFHxS, and AFFF constituents — defined by C-F bonds that resist conventional treatment and require destruction technologies to close a site.
An ex-situ soil treatment process that heats contaminated soil to volatilize and separate organic contaminants from the soil matrix, after which the liberated vapors are captured and treated, usually in a high-temperature oxidizer.
A thermal desorption configuration where the heat source contacts the soil directly inside the rotary unit, delivering high heat-transfer efficiency and supporting higher treatment temperatures.
A thermal desorption configuration where heat is conducted through the wall of the treatment vessel without combustion gases contacting the soil, producing a concentrated, lower-volume vapor stream suitable for condensation and recovery.
Treatment that heats contaminated soil and groundwater in place, typically with electrical resistance, thermal conduction, or steam injection, to volatilize and recover contaminants without excavation. Used where excavation is impractical or where the contaminant zone sits beneath active infrastructure.