Arsenic Abatement
This website is designed to explore new technologies designed to remove arsenic from drinking water. Our system was designed originally to remove arsenic from drinking water in rural areas. In the future we would like to further develop the current system that my team developed.
The current system that is in development is a porous gel bead system that is suspended in a fluidized bed. The gel beads are composed of an alginate-water solution that has 15-20% ferric hydroxide suspended in it. This alginate-water solution is then dripped through a bead extruder into calcium chloride, causing the alginate to crosslink and solidify. The beads are allowed to harden in solution for 1-3 hours. These product beads are what will be enclosed in the fluidized bed reactor enabling the removal of arsenic without leeching any contaminants back into the water.
Our mission is to develop an inexpensive, effective method for removing arsenic from drinking water. Contaminated water can be found in some of the most rural parts of the world, many parts without electricity. The ability to filter contaminated water without the use of pumping systems is absolutely necessary. Of most concern will be the cost of the system and having multiple systems that allow versatility across a wide variety of communities. The developed system will follow all of the required aspects when regarding a rural community with or without water.
ChE 416
Senior Project
Eric Gunderson Email: gunderse@onid.orst.edu