Treatment systems and methods for capable of extracting or extracting and degrading trapped PCBs within a variety of building materials.

Treatment systems and methods for capable of extracting or extracting and degrading trapped PCBs within a variety of building materials.

Methods for characterizing an environmental contaminant containing a PFAS formulation. The methods involve obtaining environmental samples with the PFAS formulation, creating a dilution series of the PFAS formulation, determining the static surface tension for each dilution, and plotting the static surface tension against the logarithm of the PFAS formulation concentration to generate an emergent behavior curve. Utilizing this curve, PFAS formulation concentration can be assigned within non-emergent dispersive, weakly emergent, and strongly emergent behavior concentration ranges, provides a systematic and efficient method for determining environmental sites most likely to shed additional PFAS into the environment. The emergent behavior curve also permits total PFAS formulation concentration to be effectively measured in real time, and to be converted into total PFAS TOPs concentration.

Systems and methods are provided for degrading PFAS in a semi-solid sample. The semi-solid sample includes PFAS molecules in a partially liquid solution. An electron donor, and optionally a surfactant, are introduced into the mixture, forming micelles. An electron donor associates with the micelle surface and releases hydrated electrons upon exposure to UV light to initiate the reductive defluorination reaction, resulting in fluoride, water, and simple carbon compounds.

The present disclosure includes systems, devices, and methods for a reactor, such as a sonication reactor, for destruction of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). In one aspect of the disclosure, the reactor includes a housing having a base and one or more walls that cooperate to define a chamber and a transducer disposed the chamber. The transducer is configured to generate a plurality of sound waves such that when PFAS solution is disposed within the chamber, the sound waves propagate through the liquid and at least some of the one or more PFAS compounds are pyrolyzed or otherwise degraded. Other aspects and features are also claimed and described.

Processes and apparatuses for degrading PFAS into calcium fluoride, carbon dioxide, and water. PFAS are heated and introduced to a calcium base which will degrade the PFAS. The PFAS may be in a stream that is a PFAS enriched stream formed by desorbing the PFAS from an adsorbent which removed the PFAS from a contaminant stream. The PFAS may be desorbed in the presence of the calcium base. The calcium base may be calcium hydroxide, calcium oxide, calcium carbonate, or combinations thereof.