Systems and methods for disinfecting fluids

1. A low voltage electroporation disinfection system for disinfecting a fluid comprising:

a non-porous outer electrode having an inner surface at an inner diameter D and defining an internal cavity and at least a portion of a flow path in a flow path direction;

a non-porous center electrode positioned coaxially within the internal cavity and having an outer surface at an outer diameter d and comprising surface area members, the center electrode extends within the flow path along at least a portion of a longitudinal axis of the outer electrode;

a voltage supply configured to:

supply a voltage across the outer electrode and center electrode via an electrical current in a current path direction; and

generate a non-uniform electric field distribution on a cross-sectional plane of the system;

a flow path inlet positioned proximate a first end of the outer electrode and configured to allow a fluid to pass from an area external to the internal cavity into the internal cavity; and

a flow path outlet positioned proximate a second end of the outer electrode and configured to allow the fluid to pass from the internal cavity into an area external to the internal cavity;

wherein the flow path direction is perpendicular to the current path direction;

wherein an enhancement factor of electric field f is defined as:

F

=

(

D

d

)

·

1

ln

⁡

(

D

d

)

;

wherein the surface area members comprise copper oxide nanowires (CuONW) with a polydopamine (PDA) thin-layer coating configured to enhance the center electrode stability and reduce copper release into the fluid;

wherein the system provides for electric field enhancement via:

the coaxial arrangement of the center electrode with the surface area members within the outer electrode; and

the increase in f with a reduction of the outer diameter d of the center electrode, which leads to an attendant increase in a gap distance defined between the outer surface of the center electrode and the inner surface of the outer electrode; and

wherein the outer electrode, center electrode, voltage supply, flow path inlet, and flow path outlet are configured to cooperatively limit the fluid flow through the internal cavity with a hydraulic retention time sufficient to reduce a living contaminant in the fluid at an inactivation efficiency of log 1 or greater.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the center electrode is a solid rod; and

wherein the voltage supply is configured to supply an applied voltage of less than 5V.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the voltage is DC voltage.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the outer electrode and the center electrode comprise a metal; and

wherein the inactivation efficiency is from log 5 to log 7.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the diameter d is from 50 μm to 100 μm; and

wherein the voltage supply is further configured to supply a non-pulsed voltage.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the diameter d is from 70 μm to 80 μm; and

wherein the voltage supply is further configured to supply a fixed voltage.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the outer electrode and the center electrode are cylindrically shaped.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the voltage supply is configured to supply a voltage from 1V to 2V across the outer electrode and center electrode; and

wherein the hydraulic retention time is about ten minutes.

9. A low voltage electroporation disinfection system for disinfecting a fluid comprising:

a coaxial-electrode electroporation disinfection cell (CEEDC) comprising:

a hollow cylindrical non-porous outer electrode having an inner surface at an inner diameter D comprising copper and defining an internal cavity; and

a non-porous center electrode comprising a wire coaxially positioned within the internal cavity of the outer electrode, the center electrode having an outer surface at an outer diameter d comprising a plurality of metallic nanowires having tips;

wherein an annular gap is defined between the inner surface of the outer electrode and the outer surface of the center electrode; and

wherein a fluid can pass through the internal cavity in a flow path direction with a hydraulic retention time; and

a voltage supplier comprising a turbine electric generator, the turbine electric generator in communication with the fluid and configured to:

supply a voltage across the outer electrode and center electrode via an electrical current in a current path direction;

generate a non-uniform electric field distribution on a cross-sectional plane of the system; and

enable irreversible electroporation in proximity of the tips of the metallic nanowires;

such that when the fluid is permitted to flow through the internal cavity with the hydraulic retention time, the supplied voltage is sufficient to reduce a living contaminant in the fluid at an inactivation efficiency of log 1 or greater;

wherein an enhancement factor of electric field f is defined as:

F

=

(

D

d

)

·

1

ln

⁡

(

D

d

)

;

wherein the system provides for a two part electric field enhancement via:

the CEEDC cell providing the coaxial arrangement of the center electrode with metallic nanowires within the outer electrode; and

the increase in f with a reduction of the outer diameter d of the center electrode, which leads to an attendant increase in the annular gap; and

wherein the flow path direction is perpendicular to the current path direction.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of metallic nanowires comprise copper oxide nanowires (CuONW) with a polydopamine (PDA) thin-layer coating configured to enhance the center electrode stability and reduce copper release into the fluid.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the outer diameter d is of from 50 μm-100 μm; and

wherein the plurality of metallic nanowires have an average diameter of ˜100 nm and an average length of ˜3.5 μm.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein when the system is supplied with an applied voltage of ˜1V;

the electric field strength in proximity of the outer surface of center electrode is ˜80 V/cm; and

the electric field strength in proximity of the tips of the metallic nanowires extending from the outer surface of the center electrode is ˜3000 V/cm.

13. A flow-by reactor for disinfecting a fluid comprising:

a non-porous outer electrode having an inner surface at a diameter D and defining an internal cavity;

a non-porous center electrode having an outer surface at al diameter d of from 50 μm to 100 μm positioned concentrically within the internal cavity and extending along at least a portion of a longitudinal axis of the outer electrode, the center electrode having a surface comprising a plurality of copper nanowires;

an inlet positioned proximate a first end of the outer electrode and configured to allow a fluid to pass from an area external to the cavity into the cavity;

an outlet positioned proximate a second end of the outer electrode and configured to allow the fluid to pass from the cavity into an area external to the cavity; and

a voltage supplier in communication with the fluid and configured to supply a voltage across the outer electrode and center electrode;

wherein the voltage:

is selected from the group consisting of DC, AC and combinations thereof;

is supplied in one or more waveforms selected from the group consisting of oscillation, pulse, decay, impulse, and combinations thereof; and

generates a non-uniform electric field distribution on a cross-sectional plane of the flow-by reactor; and

wherein an enhancement factor of electric field f is defined as:

F

=

(

D

d

)

·

1

ln

⁡

(

D

d

)

;

wherein the reactor provides for electric field enhancement via:

the concentric arrangement of the center electrode with the copper nanowires within the outer electrode; and

the increase in f with a reduction of the outer diameter d of the center electrode, which leads to an attendant increase in a gap distance defined between the outer surface of the center electrode and the inner surface of the outer electrode; and

wherein f is 26.

14. A method for disinfecting a fluid comprising:

providing the fluid disinfection system of claim 1 ;

causing a fluid to flow through the flow path inlet and into the internal cavity, the fluid comprising at least one living contaminant at a first concentration upon entering the flow path inlet;

applying the voltage across the center electrode and the outer electrode; and

causing the fluid to flow through the internal cavity with the hydraulic retention time and out of the flow path outlet;

wherein a second concentration of the living contaminant upon exiting the flow path outlet is less than the first concentration such that the inactivation efficiency of log 1 or greater is provided by the method.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the outer electrode and the center electrode comprise a metal.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the second concentration of the living contaminant is reduced from the first concentration at an inactivation efficiency from log 5 to log 7.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the inactivation efficiency is about log 6.