Battelle 'Annihilator' doing just that to dangerous PFAS chemicals found in wastewater

An array of valves, knobs and coiled tubes are bathed in a calming glow inside the cargo-truck-sized room on wheels.

A muted hum and oven-like heat emanate from behind a plexiglass shield, and visitors are instructed to wear protective eyewear, signaling that something powerful is happening.

On the ground floor of Battelle headquarters on King Avenue in the University District, this system, designed within a trailer to be taken almost anywhere, is showing how it uses extreme purification methods to destroy the chemical bond between carbon and fluorine in wastewater sludge, an accomplishment with potentially far-reaching environmental implications.

That's because these chemical chains, known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemical substances), don't degrade naturally in the environment, earning the name "forever chemicals." 

On the ground floor of Battelle headquarters on King Avenue in the University District, this system, designed within a trailer to be taken almost anywhere, is showing how it uses extreme purification methods to destroy the chemical bond between carbon and fluorine in wastewater sludge, an accomplishment with potentially far-reaching environmental implications.

That's because these chemical chains, known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemical substances), don't degrade naturally in the environment, earning the name "forever chemicals." 

But over the past three years, Battelle scientists and engineers have developed a way to eliminate them — at least in small batches. 

“We’ve successfully demonstrated this technology can be brought to a facility that processes waste materials, set-up in a few hours and destroy PFAS chemicals in the presence of other co-contaminants," Amy Dindal, Battelle PFAS program manager who in 2021 testified to Congress about the work, said in a news release. "We are invigorated in our intent to bring this game-changing technology to scale and expand it to meet the growing need around the country."

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