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The Arvia Process:
Priority Substances and Pharmaceutical Residues&
Disinfection
Arvia Technology Ltd
Nigel W. Brown
Overview
• Introduction
• Micro-organics Removal
• Disinfection
• Conclusions/On-going Work
• Acknowledgments and Questions
Introduction - Arvia Technology
• Arvia Technology is VC backed SME originating from The University of Manchester
• 22 full time employees based at The Heath Business and Technical Park
• Provides innovative advanced tertiary water and water recycling treatment with its Organics Destruction Cell (ODC)
• Active both in the water and nuclear sectors
• Arvia are focused on deploying pilot plants
• Global IPR in place – 25 patents granted with 33 pending in 9 patent families
NyexTM – An Adsorbent & Electrode
Adsorption
Energy efficient, trace level, organics destruction with no secondary waste
Electrochemical Oxidation
• Concentrates organics on a surface• Achieves low discharge consents
• Destruction of recalcitrant organics• Chemical free, onsite operation @
room temperature and pressure
Laboratory Scale Sequential Batch Reactor
Continuous Operation
ODC™ Building Blocks
ODC 22-100
Flow (Up to) 22,000 L/hrs
Max Inlet COD 2,000 ppm
Typical Operating Current 50 Amps
Expected Operating Voltage 20 - 50 Volts
Foot print 1.2 m x 0.7 m
7
Arvia Technology
• Provides innovative advanced tertiary water and water recycling treatment with
its Organics Destruction Cell (ODC)
• The ODC provides targeted removal of organics to:
ü Safely discharge wastewater to the environment (including disinfection)
ü Enable water to be reused
ü Preferentially remove contaminants of concern
ü Meet regulatory targets for COD and micro-pollutants
• Competitive against AOP processes (UV/TiO2 and Ozone/H2O2) for removing
low and trace organics (change in <100mg/l COD)8
ODC™ Proposition
The ODC™ reduces the common measure of water pollution, known as Chemical Oxygen Demand, as well as removing colour and persistent organic micro-pollutants.
ü Micro-pollutant removal for water utilities96% removal of micro-pollutants at 0.1 kWh/m3
ü Industrial wastewater polishing for effluent re-use or safe dischargeRemove recalcitrant COD to <10 ppm at 18 kWh/kg COD
ü Color removal from water and wastewaterTreat dyes, inks and other sources of color
Colour removal/Organics Polishing
ODC™ Benefits
ü Chemical free and environmentally sound
ü No toxic by-products and no sludge
ü Modular and scalable design
ü Safe to operate system and low maintenance
ü Energy used proportional to the organics destroyed. The lower the concentration of organics the more cost-effective!
11
Case Studies
Micro-pollutants in Wastewater
12
At its pilot plant with a major British water utility company Arvia’s ODC is delivering previously
unachievable results in removing micro-pollutants.
Treatment parameters:
Optimised energy consumption: 0.1 - 0.3 kWh/mᵌ Treatment target: parts per billion level
80% removal of oestrogens, Ibuprofen, Carbamazepine, Diclofenac, Fluoxetine
Large scale treatment of water spiked
with a wide range of micro-pollutantsPharmaceutical residues including antibiotics, prescription drugs and non prescription drugs
treated using the Arvia process showed on average >90% removal
Power (KWh) is for the treatment of cocktail of compounds present in the waste
and not for individual compounds
Removal of non-prescription drugs and steroids
• >90% removal of Ibuprofen and Diclofenac
Removal of steroids
• >80% removal of EE2.
• Concentration of analyte in ng/l, and deviation in result is within error of measurement.
The ‘Metaldehyde Problem’
• Molluscicide-selective pesticide applied to control snails and slugs
– 2008-2012, >1400 tonnes of metaldehyde has been used (FERA,
2013)
• Long-lived in the environment
• Soluble in water (200 mg/L at 20oC)
– Leaching of metaldehyde in water sources is a serious threat to water
quality (fwi, 2014)
• 200+ plants fail EU standards in UK
17
Metaldehyde trial result
18
• The Arvia process could take water
from out of to into specification
(0.1 ppb)
• Discharge consent achieved for every
single pass
• 96% removal of metaldehyde from
water
• Treatment cost was shown to be
0.5 kWhrs/m3
Summary
• The technology delivers hard (recalcitrant) COD removal,
colour and organic micro-pollutant removal
• The Arvia ODC combines the advantages of adsorption
and advanced oxidation within a single unit
• There is no by-product formation, no secondary waste
generated and no chemicals used in the process which
differentiates the technology from other tertiary treatment
technologies
Disinfection
Antibiotic Resistance
All 193 UN member states have agreed to combat the
proliferation of drug-resistant infections, estimated to kill
more than 700,000 people each year (The Guardian
21/9/16)
UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said antimicrobial
resistance is a “fundamental threat” to global health and
safety at the first general assembly meeting on drug-
resistant bacteria. (The Guardian 21/9/16)
To fight the growing problem of infections that can't be
treated, the administration of President Barack Obama is
implementing a five-year national action plan at a cost of
$1.2 billion.
Drug-resistant bacteria, viruses and parasites are driving
a global health crisis. It threatens not only our ability to
treat deadly infections, but almost every aspect of
modern medicine: from cancer treatment to Caesarean
sections, therapies that save thousands of lives every
day rely on antibiotics that could soon be lost. We are
failing to contain the rise of resistance, and failing to
develop new drugs to replace those that no longer work.
We are heading for a post-antibiotic age. Dr Jeremy
Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust
The soaring number of antibiotic-resistant infections
poses such a great threat to society that in 20 years’ time
we could be taken back to a 19th century environment
where everyday infections kill us as a result of routine
operations. Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical
Officer for England
Hospital wastewaters
Hospital wastewaters contain as much as 100 times as much antibiotic levels
than Sewage Treatment Plants. Galvin et al have shown that hospital
wastewaters have a higher proportion of antibiotic resistant E Coli than
wastewaters upstream of the hospital. STW failed to remove a number of
antibiotic resistant strains. (Katouli et al, Science Forum and Stakeholder
Engagement: Building Linkages, Collaboration and Science Quality , 225 – 229)
After administration antibiotic substances are released into the effluent via
patient excreta. These drugs can pass through sewage works can enter the
aquatic environment and eventually reach drinking water. (Kummerer &
Henninger, Clinical microbiology and infection, 2003, Vol 9, 1203-1214)
“Municipal sewage treatment plants are not designed to deal with medicinal
and biological waste. This is why we can detect these substances in our
waterways. Ulf Nielson Chief Environmental planner (Consulting firm DHI
Denmark). “Even in very low concentrations, the substances in hospital
wastewater can affect animal life. Estrogens, for example, can cause
hermaphroditic fish, while pain killers are poisonous to trout and certain
psychopharmaceuticals can affect fish and bird behaviour.” (The Guardian
12/11/14)
Hospital wastewaters contain a variety of toxic and persistent substances
such as pharmaceuticals, radio nuclides, solvents and disinfectants for
medical purposes. Many of these compounds belong to the so called
emerging contaminants, which may be candidates for future regulation.
(Verlicchi et al, Journal of Hydrology 389 (2010) 416–428)
Adsorption 1
E. Coli Initial conc. 1.6 * 109 CFU ml-1 Nyex Dose rate 100 g/lAverage of 5 trials Limit of detection 20 CFU ml-1
8.5 Log reduction after 20 mins
Adsorption 1
Hussain et al, 2014, Water Research 54, 170-178
Electrochemical Regeneration
E. Coli Initial conc. 2.5 * 108 CFU ml-1 Fresh batch used each cycleAverage of 5 trials Limit of detection 20 CFU ml-1Operating conditions Current density 10 mA-2 for 20 mins
Micro-organisms
• Bacteria
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Legionealla pneumophilia
• Fungi
• Aspergillus awamori
• Yeast
• Saccharomyces cerevisiae
• Rhodosporidium turoloides
Hussain et al, J. Ind Eng Chem. 2016 In press
S. Cerevisiae
Hussain et al, J. Ind Eng Chem. 2016 In press
L. pneumophila stained with safranin
Algae cells Adsorption
Scanning Electron Micrographs of microalgae cells on the adsorbent
Algae Regeneration
Scanning Electron Micrographs of microalgae cells on the adsorbent
• Dimple appearing on the side of the microalgae cells that is in contact with the adsorbent.
• Possibly due to electrochemical regeneration of adsorbent
Algae Regeneration
Scanning Electron Micrographs of microalgae cells following regeneration
• An opening can be observed from what looks like a ruptured Microalgae cell as a result of electrochemical regeneration
• Release of intracellular material from micro-algae.
• Possibly due to wall rupture as a result of electrochemical regeneration of the adsorbent
Disinfection Mechanisms
• Direct Electrochemical disinfection
• Electro-chlorination
• pH
Continuous treatment system
0 A
10 A
5 A
ODC™ Benefits
ü Chemical free
ü No toxic by-products
ü No waste sludge
ü Residual Chlorination
ü Modular and scalable design (suitable for small scale operation)
ü Safe to operate system and low maintenance
ü Energy used proportional to the organics destroyed. The lower the concentration of organics the more cost-effective!
Acknowledgements
Prof E.P.L. Roberts University of Calgary
Dr. S. N. Hussain Punjab University
Dr Akinlabi Adeyem University of Manchester
Prof J. Lloyd, Prof A. McBain, Dr R. Kimber, University of Manchester
Dr C. Halsall, S. O’Rouke3 University of Lancaster
Team at Arvia Technology
Wastewater as resource
“Globally billions of Euros are spent treating trillions of litres of
wastewater every year, consuming substantial amounts of energy
However, this wastewater could act as a renewable resource,
saving significant quantities of energy and money, as it contains
organic pollutants which can be used to produce electricity”
European Commission (2013) Bio-electrochemical Systems, wastewater
treatment, bioenergy and valuable chemicals delivered by bacteria.
Future Brief.
Microbial Fuel Cell Research BC Environmental
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Cell Voltage (mV) against Time (h)
Time (h)
