Western Engineering investigates freezing technique for water treatment

Western Engineering researchers have teamed up with Core Geoscience Services Inc. (CoreGeo) in a project to investigate the use of cryopurification - water treatment by freezing - for treating contaminated water in a mine in Northern Canada. It is a nature-inspired technology based on physics pointing to ice crystals as essentially made up of pure water. "When contaminated water is gradually frozen, ice crystals of pure water grow while the contaminants are rejected from the crystal structure into the liquid phase. The technology has shown to be effective for the removal of contaminants from aqueous solutions and has the potential to decontaminate water resources to provide a safe and clean water supply," explained Ajay Ray, professor, department of chemical and biochemical engineering. (L-R) Ajay Ray, professor, department of chemical and biochemical engineering; Ethan Allen, principal environmental geochemist at CoreGeo; and Daria Popugaeva, post-doctoral research fellow, department of chemical and biochemical engineering (credit: Western Engineering) "The prospective to harness the physical processes of ice formation through cryopurification is possible for northern regions such as Yukon, Canada, where the climate is primarily subarctic and mining operations have led to widespread contamination of water sources," Ray explained. "The application of freezing technology will be particularly beneficial for First Nations communities in northern regions, addressing the lack of access to safe, clean household water in a cost-effective and easy-to-use manner." Partnership Western Engineering's partnership with CoreGeo is funded through a $600,000 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Alliance-MITACS grant.