W5170124C0168

Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase II

Mobile System for the Responsible Treatment ofĀArmy Waste Streams

AxNano is commercializing a robust, mobile unit for on-site capture and destruction of liquid hazardous waste generated from Army s mission critical operations, including equipment repair, emergency/fire training or response activities, and fuel storage. Recent moratoriums preventing DoD incineration of emerging contaminants, such as per- and polyfluoroalkylsubstances (PFAS), indicate that historical practices of landfilling and incineration are unsatisfactory. AxNano presents an opportunity to invest in more sustainable solutions. Our system contains two parts. First, a mobile contaminant capture system (PETS) removes the contaminants from water, reducing the volume by 10,000x. PETS is based on a system designed and tested by the Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Research and Development Center (ERDC). The concentrated slurry from PETS is then automatically transferred to our supercritical water oxidation destruction system (SCWO). Together, our integrated, fully mobile system (mSCWO) will help the Army meet the Net Zero sustainability initiative and the DoD Installation Master Planning that require waste reduction and land preservation across all military installations. The technical objectives of our system are 99.999% destruction efficiency for concentrated PFAS waste; achieving <4 ppt PFAS in effluent (end product); decrease project timelines by 20%; design a self-contained, deployable unit; and achieve competitive treatment price. Sustainable hazardous waste disposal is essential to Army maintaining readiness and momentum for modernization efforts. The technical tasks of this proposed Phase 2 include building a prototype PETS capture system, process Army-relevant waste through PETS capture system, test components to integrate the PETS capture into SCWO destruction and demonstrate destruction of waste from PETS at the pilot SCWO facility. The anticipated key results of the program include designing a self-contained mobile waste transfer integration unit to transfer waste from PETS system to slurry preparation component, design a self-contained mobile SCWO unit to be integrated with the waste transfer integration unit, and map out system integration into Army workflow.

The goal of phase II is to continue the R&D efforts initiated in Phase I. Funding is based on the results achieved in Phase I and the scientific and technical merit and commercial potential of the project proposed in Phase II.

A234-P015

A2D-1359

23.4

Jesse Roberts