Removing harmful contaminants from sources such as paint, lubricants and pesticides that slip through conventional wastewater treatment systems and find their way back into our waterways will be the goal of a recent civil and environmental engineering PhD graduate as he continues his post-doctoral research.

Srimanta Ray, who won a two-year post-doctoral fellowship worth $80,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, developed a method under the tutelage of associate professor Jerald Lalman that relies on using ultraviolet light and titanium dioxide fibers as a catalyst to degrade the toxic phenolic chemical compounds used in a variety of industrial processes.

Many chemicals aren’t removed by municipal wastewater treatment systems and as a result, are discharged into bodies of water such as lakes and rivers, Dr. Ray said. Phenols act as endocrine disruptors, meaning they interfere with biological hormonal systems of mammals and fish, he added.

On an experimental nano-scale, Ray said he was able to develop a photo-catalytic titanium-dioxide fiber capable of removing more than 99 percent from a synthetic water stream. He said the technology could be applied in an industrial or municipal setting by lining the interior of wastewater flow chambers with titanium-dioxide fiber. Untreated water would flow in to the chamber, get blasted by ultraviolet light, and flow out the other end virtually free of contaminants.

“It’s essentially a green process,” he said. “You’re not adding any chemicals to degrade these compounds.”

Ray said he’ll spend the next two years working at improving the efficiency of various catalytic processes on removing persistent contaminants.

Twenty UWindsor graduate students and post-doctoral fellows earned a total of $720,500 in funding from NSERC this year. Ray was the only successful post-doctoral fellowship candidate from UWindsor in 2010.

During Ray's graduate studies, he and Dr. Lalman received two patents related to the use of nano-catalysts in water treatment and for the production of feedstock chemicals. They were also granted another patent for developing an innovative microbial fuel cell.

Srimanta Ray has developed a new method for removing organic contaminants from waste water.
 

News story courtesy of UWin Daily News.