Granted Patent B2

US 12,534,390 · App. 19/015,905 · Granted Jan 27, 2026

Inventors: Zekun Liu (Brooklyn Park, MN); Terrance P. Smith (Woodbury, MN); Adam Michael Hilbrands (Minneapolis, MN); Nathan Ernst Kamm (Minneapolis, MN); Joseph Reuel Levine Tirado (Minneapolis, MN); Sonja Elise Moons (Minneapolis, MN); John Wilfrid Brockgreitens (Minneapolis, MN); Andrew Thomas Healy (Minneapolis, MN)

Assignee: Claros Technologies Inc.

C02F1/325B01D61/025B01D61/08B01D69/02C02F1/441C02F1/70B01D2311/08B01D2325/14B01D2325/20C02F2101/163C02F2101/36C02F2305/00

Abstract

Claims (15)

1 . A method of PFAS destruction comprising:

filtering water containing PFAS and nitrate through a membrane selective for PFAS to obtain a membrane reject containing PFAS and nitrate and a filtrate containing nitrate;

forming a treatment solution using the membrane reject comprising:

diluting the membrane reject, wherein, before dilution, a concentration of PFAS in the membrane reject is between about 3 times and about 20 times greater than in the water containing PFAS and nitrate before the filtering step, and wherein dilution of the membrane reject comprises between about a 3 and about a 20 times dilution, and

combining the membrane reject with a photosensitizer, a sulfite salt, and a sufficient amount of base such that the treatment solution has a pH of about 10 or more; and

irradiating the treatment solution with UV light in a photoreactor to destroy a portion of the PFAS.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the selective membrane comprises a reverse osmosis, forward osmosis, nanofiltration (NF), and/or ultrafiltration (UF) membrane.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the selective membrane comprises a reverse osmosis membrane.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the membrane retains greater than 99% of the PFAS in the water.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the photosensitizer comprises a halide salt.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the photosensitizer comprises an iodide salt.

7 . The method of claim 5 wherein the photosensitizer comprises a bromide salt.

8 . The method of claim 1 wherein a concentration of PFAS in the water containing PFAS and nitrate before the filtering step is between about ¼ and about 4 times the concentration of PFAS in the treatment solution.

9 . The method of claim 8 wherein the concentration of PFAS in the water containing PFAS and nitrate before the filtering step is between about ½ and 2 times the concentration of PFAS in the treatment solution.

10 . The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment solution has a pH of about 12 or more.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (400)