Mobile Produced Water Recycling and Resource Recovery System ($50,000)

Charles Paradis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geosciences

Josh Swigart, Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Geosciences

Dr. Paradis’ research focuses on the fate, transport, and remediation of contaminants in the environment and groundwater. His background in hydrology and geology makes him an excellent mentor and partner to Josh Swigart, a PhD student who has invented a system to recycle

produced water which is naturally occurring water that comes out of the ground along with oil and gas. With the Catalyst funds, they will focus on recycling produced water from drilling activities in the Permian Basin, which is a large-scale issue.

The overarching goal is to implement a novel water recycling technique at current deep-well injection stations for water re-sale for hydraulic fracturing, crop watering, potable water for livestock, and for inorganic metals resource recovery. This technique has the potential to allow deep-well injection stations to convert over to water recycling/resource recovery stations in a way that owners can financially benefit from accepting produced water.

Novel Bioreactor for the Removal of Persistent Chemicals from Contaminated Water ($50,000)

Shangping Xu, Ph.D., Professor, Geosciences

Yin Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Erica Young, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biological Sciences

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) represent a large group of man-made chemicals that are widely used in

consumer products ( including cookware, packaging), airports, and military installations to name a few. These chemicals do not break down in the environment or in the body, and are known to lead to adverse health outcomes in humans. A growing number of research papers have shown that PFAS contamination in water sources is widespread in the United States.