Solution for firefighting foam contamination

Health risks to people and the environment could be reduced by a new technology known as ‘downhole foam fractionation’ (DFF), which has been designed by scientists at OPEC Systems to help communities experiencing PFAS groundwater contamination.

It simply and effectively isolates and removes longer chain PFAS substances from affected sites, with testing results showing removal of more than 99% of PFAS within minutes.

PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) are organic pollutants of concern found in groundwater beneath fire training grounds where a particular type of now-discontinued firefighting foam was used.

In 2009, PFOS (one of many PFAS compounds) was listed as an organic pollutant by the Stockholm Convention. Today there is widespread consensus of the potential for long-term health risks to people and the environment from PFOS and a variety of other PFAS compounds.

OPEC Systems has been working on a solution to this problem for several years in collaboration with the Australian Department of Defence.

The DFF technology involves the installation of purpose-designed and strategically positioned groundwater wells at affected sites, and the creation of bubble columns within the wells which ‘foam out’ the PFAS compounds.

“Importantly, DFF is a simple, clean and cost-effective innovation that causes zero environmental harm. We simply put air in and take PFAS out,” said OPEC Environmental Division Manager Steve Phillips.

The DFF system scavenges the PFAS contaminants within the foam, and a patented foam harvesting system is used to remove the PFAS-rich concentrate from the wells, where it is further refined before being taken off-site and subsequently destroyed at a certified waste destruction facility.

“The elegance of the DFF approach is that it relies on the inherent physiochemical characteristics of the PFAS compounds to remove them from water, and it allows us to do this in alignment with the principles of green chemistry,” said Phillips.

“During the initial testing phase, we worked on a variety of promising technologies. We tried a range of chemical additives, fungi and sonic methods, but DFF significantly outperformed all the other approaches. In fact, when the initial test results came back, we assumed they must be incorrect. We retested and were astounded with the implications.”

PFAS has unique properties that make it difficult to remediate, which is why an effective solution to the problem has taken some time to develop. Unlike numerous other organic compounds, many PFAS compounds are highly mobile and do not degrade in the natural environment.

Image courtesy of OPEC Systems.