Use of electrically generated plasma to produce reactive species that cleave carbon-fluorine bonds in PFAS. Demonstrated at pilot scale on AFFF and water concentrates, with destruction efficiencies above 99 percent for long-chain PFAS but limited commercial deployment.
Non-thermal plasma reactors apply high-voltage electrical discharges to a gas-liquid interface, generating reactive species including hydrated electrons, hydroxyl radicals, and argon ions that attack the carbon-fluorine bond. Clarkson University, Purdue, and DMAX Plasma have demonstrated plasma destruction of PFOA, PFOS, and AFFF rinsates with efficiencies above 99 percent at bench and small pilot scale.
Plasma offers a non-thermal pathway that avoids the energy demand of supercritical water oxidation and the off-gas controls of high-temperature thermal treatment. Reported energy intensity is in the range of 1 to 5 kilowatt-hours per gram of PFAS destroyed, which is competitive for high-concentration waste streams such as IX regenerant and AFFF stockpiles.
Scale-up is the open question. Field deployments above 10 gallons per minute are limited as of 2026, electrode wear and reactor fouling are unresolved, and short-chain PFAS show lower destruction efficiency than long-chain. Plasma is best understood today as a complementary destruction route for concentrated liquid streams, not a soil-treatment technology.
Also known as: non-thermal plasma, gliding arc plasma, plasma PFAS destruction.
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.