Susan Sitkoff, P.G., Ryan Joslyn, P.E. and Raj Melkote

PFAS Destruction in Biosolids

Susan Sitkoff, P.G., Capital Improvement Plan Division Environmental Manager, City of Orlando, 

Ryan Joslyn, P.E., Engineer, Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. and 

Raj Melkote, Chief Technology Officer, 374Water

Promulgation of the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for PFAS in drinking water implicates municipalities with the responsibility of ensuring the public has access to safe drinking water and warrants further actions to update and maintain existing infrastructure to meet these established criteria.  PFAS contaminants have been known to enter, transform, and accumulate in water and wastewater treatment plants with waste media and effluent streams being discharged to multiple different locations.  Traditional methods of disposal, including land application, was replaced with landfill disposal because of PFAS concerns, so the City of Orlando was seeking a means for on-site destruction to help reduce costs.  To address these concerns, the City evaluated different treatment options and selected a Super Critical Water Oxidation (SCWO) system for pilot testing at the Iron Bridge Waste Water Treatment Plant.  The SCWO system was installed and has been testing PFAS destruction from different waste streams, including waste-activated sludge from the plant.  This presentation intends to discuss the details of the SCWO system, capabilities of the system, baseline and performance monitoring associated with the pilot test, and lessons learned.

Project Manager for assessment and remediation projects in the City of Orlando. Mrs. Sitkoff is a licensed Professional Geologist with over 30 years of experience in environmental assessment and remediation. Her experience includes assessment and remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, inorganics, pesticides, and PFAS impacted sites at various commercial sites throughout the country. Mrs. Sitkoff spent over 23 years working on assessment and remediation at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station prior to coming to work for the City of Orlando. 

As a project manager in the Geosyntec Consultants Titusville office, Ryan is a licensed Professional Engineer with more than 6 years of experience in environmental assessment and remediation.  Ryan has dedicated his experience to the environmental assessment and remediation of complex sites including manufactured gas plants,  large-scale industrial operations, and state and federal facilities with petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, and PFAS contamination. He has designed and/or operated various remedial technologies including air sparge/SVE systems, groundwater extraction and treatment systems, and in-situ remedial technologies. 

Raj Melkote is currently Chief Technology Officer for 374Water, a pioneering growth company in the waste destruction space, whose mission is to destroy organic wastes including “forever chemicals” (PFAS) through a novel supercritical water oxidation process. 

Melkote is a seasoned R&D / Engineering executive with a track record of introducing and commercializing innovative new industrial technology products across a wide range of industries. Prior to joining 374Water, Melkote was Chief Technology Officer at BayoTech Hydrogen, providing modular, scalable, and rapidly deployable hydrogen generation, transport, storage, and fueling solutions. In that role he led innovation, testing, design, and continuous improvement of BayoTech processes. Previously he worked for Edwards Vacuum where he introduced machine learning to develop predictive diagnostics around pump failures and spearheaded the XVS cryopump platform. Melkote has also held leadership, engineering, and R&D roles with Brooks Automation, Honeywell, United Technologies, and General Electric. Melkote received his PhD from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University, both in chemical engineering.