Grant: Engage Grants Program

Purifics engineers single integrated platform systems that filter, destroy and recover contaminants with zero liquid discharge. The list of specific water issues that can be resolved with Purifics systems are extensive, including metals, bacteria, viruses, oil, particles and other chemicals but phosphorus, either as orthophosphate or as organic phosphorus compounds, has not yet been addressed or tested by Purifics engineered systems. Phosphorus is a major water treatment issue and represents a potential growing sales market for Purifics. Existing engineered products at Purifics including the Photo-Cat system could be re-purposed for phosphorus removal. Testing the existing Photo-Cat system represents Phase I of the proposed research utilizing titanium dioxide nanoparticles. In terms of a sample testing progression, simple phosphate will be tested first, then organic compounds and finally real effluent. Organic phosphorus compounds are not removed using conventional water treatment and this system would represent a dramatic improvement over current practices. Once existing Photo-Cat system configurations are tested the project will move to Phase II, the study of novel nanoparticle ""recipes"", which will include other metal oxides than the default titanium dioxide used in current Photo-Cat systems. This research will demonstrate if Purifics' Photo-Cat system, as currently configured, or an improved version, can be useful in phosphorus removal.