Spy
Project Coordinator:
Robert J. Forster: robert.forster@dcu.ie
Institution: Dublin City University
Abstract:
The “Sense and Purify” SPy technology allows organic molecules and pathogens, that cannot be destroyed using conventional wastewater treatments, to be mineralised to carbon dioxide, ammonia and water. It does this by generating a high concentration of the powerful oxidising agent, hydroxyl radicals, throughout a water sample volume with very high electrical efficiency. The active agent has no persistent toxicity (radical lifetime is 5 μs), causes no residue and causes no secondary pollution. It can be implemented at source, is highly mobile/portable, is low cost, has a high throughput, ensures optimised water quality for a given application through sensing/analysis of the inlet and outlet streams, is energy efficient, environmentally friendly, broadly applicable to a wide range of waste streams (from microalgae farms to industry and municipal waste) and has low Capex and Opex.
Funders of the project:
Environmental Protection Agency Ireland (Ireland)
Agence National de la Recherche (France)
Water Research Commission (South Africa)