Engineering Researchers Develop Method for Removing Micropollutants From Natural Waters
August 30, 2023
BATON ROUGE, LA – Researchers in LSU’s Cain Department of Chemical Engineering (ChE) and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) have developed an energy-efficient method for rapidly removing pharmaceuticals and other micropollutants from natural waters, like the Mississippi River. The result could help reduce the carbon footprint of reclaiming and reusing water in drought-prone areas.
The team used a photocatalytic advanced oxidation process to create a sustainable water treatment/reuse strategy without using chemicals, thereby reducing energy consumption and potential disinfection byproducts.
The results have been published in a new paper in ACS ES&T Engineering and was authored by LSU ChE Associate Professor Kevin McPeak; ChE graduate students, Daniel Willis, Ella Sheets, Mary Worbington, Sarah Glass, MaCayla Caso, Tochukwu Ofoegbuna, and Liz Diaz; CEE Assistant Professor Samuel Snow; and CEE graduate students Madhusudan Kamat and Caleb Osei-Appau.
“Water scarcity is a growing challenge for nations, rich and poor,” McPeak said. “Reclaiming and reusing fresh water helps maintain precious resources in drought-prone areas, such as the Western U.S. and Israel. Unfortunately, potable water reuse for even small municipalities can cost millions of U.S. dollars annually.”
Approximately 10% of potable water reuse costs are tied to advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) necessary to clean the water to a high standard. Nearly 40% of operations and maintenance costs for AOPs are attributed to the consumption of chemical additives, such as H2O2. Though photocatalytic treatment methods offer potential advantages, previous photocatalytic technologies have largely fallen short of commercial applications. The LSU team developed a patent-pending dual-porous photocatalyst system using an Immobilized UV-transparent support. The system improved the energy efficiency by as much as 2,800% and the potential scalability of photocatalytic technologies for water treatment.
“We use our dual-porous photocatalyst to degrade pharmaceutical compounds in a river water source with nearly 30 times the treatment efficacy of traditional H2O2/UVC AOPs,” McPeak said. “Our photocatalyst shows promise for lowering the cost of AOPs for various water treatment applications.”
Like us on Facebook (@lsuengineering) or follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@lsuengineering).
###
Contact: Libby Haydel
Communications Manager
225-578-4840
ehaydel1@lsu.edu
Latest College of Engineering News
- LSU ChE, SJA Students Study Breast Cancer in 3D EnvironmentOctober 24, 2022BATON ROUGE, LA - Though October is recognized nationally as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, LSU faculty and students are working every month to help combat the potentially fatal disease that has been projected to affect nearly 340,000 Americans this year.
- Testing Backdate
- LSU Researchers Create Low-Cost Method to Recycle PlasticBATON ROUGE – LSU researchers have created a new, low-cost way to break down plastic, a potential breakthrough that could save billions of dollars and eliminate billions of tons of plastic pollution.
- CEE's Mohammad Appointed to Editorship of ASCE PublicationBATON ROUGE, LA - LSU Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Louay Mohammad has been selected to serve as co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering (JMCE), a publication of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
- LSU Construction Management Professor Developing Occupant-Centric Energy Management SystemBATON ROUGE, LA - Thermostat wars are not just limited to the home; they are also common in office environments and can result in negative outcomes like adversely affecting worker productivity and driving up energy costs unnecessarily.
- LSU Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Develops Software to Protect Offshore WindfarmsIn July 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it would hold the first-ever offshore wind energy lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, renewable energy companies have expressed interest in wind farming, with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management finalizing four Wind Energy Areas that could produce enough clean, renewable energy to power more than 3 million homes. However, with this rapid growth comes challenges, such as protecting these wind farms from hurricanes.