The Miami Electron Beam Research Facility: a large scale wastewater treatment application

Abstract

The Electron Beam Research Facility (EBRF) located in Miami, Florida houses a 1.5 MV, 50 mA electron accelerator. Extensive large scale (460 1 min−1) research on the use of electron beams for the treatment of water and wastewater has been conducted at this facility over the last several years. Initial research focused on determining the disinfection kinetics of bacteria in different wastewater streams at large scale. Our most recent experiments have focused on evaluating the effectiveness of electron beam irradiation in treating industrial wastes and contaminated groundwaters. The latter has been accomplished by dissolving toxic organic compounds of interest in large quantities of potable water (groundwater). The contaminated groundwater simulant is then treated with the electron beam. This paper provides a detailed description of the EBRF, including equipment and layout, experimental protocols used for the research, reliability and maintenance performance estimates based on our operational experience, and treatment cost estimates.