EVA – Development of a High-Load Combustible PFAS Absorber for Decentralized Disposal

Challenges

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of synthetic chemicals that are used in almost all areas of industrial production and are also widely used in consumer goods and firefighting foams. PFAS have entered and continue to enter the environment in various ways from their areas of application in the textile and paper industries, electroplating, medical technology, firefighting foams, and numerous other areas. High concentrations are found primarily near airports (from firefighting foams) and industrial plants.

Due to their persistence in the environment and the health risks they pose to humans and animals, measures are increasingly being taken at European and global level to curb PFAS emissions and protect contaminated water and land. Groundwater and soil remediation require technologies that can remove PFAS contamination quickly, cost-effectively, and with a high degree of efficiency.

Objectives and project plan

The joint R&D project between the cleantech company instrAction and Fraunhofer IGB aims to develop a novel, combustible absorber with high capacity for long- and short-chain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The new absorber is expected to have a loading capacity that is 5-10 times higher than comparable technologies, for example through innovative changes to the polymer coating in the pore volume of the absorber. This should enable effective, low-emission, and local combustion of the pollutants and reduce or even eliminate existing problems with the disposal of PFAS-contaminated water in the industrial sector.

Fraunhofer IGB's focus in the project is on investigating and analyzing the decomposition and combustion processes with a view to optimizing the material. To this end, extensive chemical analysis methods are being used and the measurement data evaluated using AI approaches.

The aim of the project is to achieve a seamless process chain, starting with the binding of PFAS and ending with their final destruction.

Impact

If successful, the result will be a product or process facilitating the disposal of PFAS in many industrial sectors, thereby making an enormous contribution to environmental protection and the European economy beyond the borders of Baden-Württemberg.