Plasma tech targets PFAS ‘forever chemicals’

MINNESOTA – A US university research team is pushing forward with plans to develop a commercially viable plasma system capable of eradicating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water, in a move that could have implications for textile chemical manufacturers, and even dye houses facing regulatory pressure over chemical wastewater discharge.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Southern Research and Outreach Center have submitted a proposal to the state’s Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) requesting $862,000 to scale up and validate a 60-gallon-per-hour (gph) liquid-phase plasma reactor system designed to destroy PFAS at source — leaving only calcium fluoride (CaF₂) and water as by-products.