A new Cornell invention can clean up waste water from pesticides and textile processing on site efficiently, inexpensively and without some of the problems of current technologies, say two Cornell environmental chemists.
This major improvement of the commonly used pesticide rinse water treatment processes was reported at the American Chemical Society meeting by David Saltmiras, a Cornell doctoral student in environmental toxicology. His research was conducted with water-quality expert Ann Lemley, a professor in the College of Human Ecology.
The new cleanup system, called Anodic Fenton Treatment (AFT), is relatively fast, taking just two to three minutes to clean up a glass of water contaminated with atrazine, the most widely used herbicide in the United States. In contrast, the commonly used technology used worldwide, called the Classic Fenton Treatment (CFT), takes about 30 seconds, but it has certain drawbacks that the new system corrects. A basic electrochemical version of CFT takes about 25 minutes.
Using their new system, the researchers also have successfully degraded the contaminants trifluralin and ETU (ethylene thiourea).
The researchers noted that AFT has the promise of a much faster cleanup and also has the capability of being used as an on-site flow-through system, allowing contaminated water to be pumped in and emerge clean. "We believe that because of its flow-through capabilities, it has the potential to be an on-site treatment and disposal system for farmers and industries," said Saltmiras.
Saltmiras and Lemley hold a provisional patent on the AFT process, which involves using two electrochemical half-cells. In the first half-cell, iron is delivered by an iron anode, which triggers the Fenton reaction. The other half-cell has the cathode needed for an electrical current. Water from both cells is combined, one with a low pH and one with a higher pH, to produce water with a neutral pH. This water can then be safely discarded.
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