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ASSESSING CONTINUED ELECTROCHEMICAL TREATMENT OF GROUNDWATER IMPACTED BY AQUEOUS FILM-FORMING FOAMS
Schaefer, C.E., C. Andaya, A. Maizel, and C.P. Higgins.
Journal of Environmental Engineering Vol. 145 No. 12 (2019)

A 21-day study tested an electrochemical treatment using boron-doped diamond anodes on groundwater impacted with aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) in successive 24-hour batch cycles. Results showed defluorination of both PFAAs and polyfluoroalkyl compounds. Substantial perchlorate generation was observed throughout the study. PFAS treatment effectiveness diminished over time due to scaling, resulting in decreased removal of the PFAAs and generation of PFBA. Based on measured generation of fluoride relative to the concentrations of the PFAAs, defluorination of the polyfluoroalkyl acids decreased 2-3 times more than the PFAAs due to this scaling, suggesting that defluorination of the polyfluoroalkyl acids occurred via a mechanism different from that of the PFAAs. Acid cleaning to remove the accumulated scale resulted in the restoration of PFAS treatment. Polyfluorinated compounds and PFBA showed greater adverse impacts from the mass transfer and/or residence time decreases associated with the scaling than what was observed for the other PFAAs. This implies that these compounds may prove to be a greater challenge in long-term full-scale applications.



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