The R&D Tax Credit Aspects of Modern Filtration
Filtration
Federal and state governments provide tax
incentives for filter technology development. With
increasingly stringent clean air requirements and widespread
concern over biological ecosystems, filtration technologies
are rapidly developing. Innovative filtration solutions
increase performance and reduce operating costs.
The wide assortment of materials, debris, and compounds that
need to be filtered in any given setting is enormous. The
scope of materials, designs, and combinations that can be used
to create a filtering mechanism for any different application
is practically infinite.
Filter technology has come a long way since filter patents
first attracted widespread industry attention in the tobacco
market in the 1920’s. Large filter manufacturing companies
like Pall Corp, smaller ones like filtration group, the
federal government and Universities like UCLA are all
constantly developing filtering technologies, investing
billions in R&D. They have scientists, engineers and
chemists constantly developing patents and improving existing
technology for new applications. These activities are
often eligible for substantial Federal and State R&D tax
incentives which are discussed in the column on the
right.
The R&D Tax Credit
Enacted in 1981, the Federal Research and
Development (R&D) Tax Credit allows a credit of up to 13
percent of eligible spending for new and improved products and
processes. Qualified research must meet the following four
criteria:
- New or improved products,
processes, or software
- Technological in nature
- Elimination of uncertainty
- Process of experimentation
Eligible costs include employee wages, cost of supplies, cost
of testing, contract research expenses, and costs associated
with developing a patent. On December 19, 2014, President
Obama signed the bill extending the R&D Tax Credit for the
2014 tax year.
Biological Filtration
Bio-filtration
is a relatively new and emerging technology. It involves
using living material to capture and biologically degrade
pollutants. Bio-filtration is generally applied to
wastewater treatment and other toxic compounds, as well as
fish tanks and aquariums.
It
also represents a partial solution to the growing worldwide
water shortage issue. One billion people around the
globe lack access to an improved water supply. In excess
of two billion people lack access to improved sanitation.
Consequently, there is an overwhelming amount of nitrogen
pollution in fresh water supplies, worldwide.
Many rivers, lakes, and other freshwater sources are becoming
increasingly polluted by not only human waste but agriculture
and industry waste. These sources represent a serious
threat to maintaining manageable levels of nitrogenous and
phosphorus waste in our water.
Besides wastewater treatment, there is a broad
range of applications for bio-filters. Consequently, many
studies have been done on bio-filtration in the last few
decades. However, it is still difficult to explain the
behavior of a bio-filter. The growth of different types of
microorganisms in different working conditions makes it
difficult to generalize the microbial activities of a given
bio-filter. Because of the complex dynamics in any given
bio-filtration system, designing them often involves a
rigorous process of experimentation.
The parameters that can affect the performance of a bio-filter
are extremely widespread. A few of them include the
characteristics of filter media, hydraulic and organic loading
rate, and filter backwash techniques. Others include the
temperature and the presence of oxidants, i.e. O3, H2O2, Cl2,
and NH4Cl in the effluent. These factors should be carefully
studied before designing a bio-filtration system. Some
additional considerations are often taken into account by
engineers such as designing products to fit within small
spaces, establishing multiple functions, and filtering a
diverse array of odors, toxic compounds, and VOC’s in any
given setting. What’s more, different users have varying
standards adding to the complexity.
Given this complexity and the vast array of catalysts that may
affect any given filter, designing bio-filters are often very
R&D intensive. If the investigations involve new
technology which they often do, it is likely that the activity
will be eligible for the R&D tax credit. The EPA
discusses some bio-filtration systems that it considers
innovative below.
The following
technologies are relatively new to the market. Enough so
that different variations will often trigger eligibility for
R&D tax credits. The EPA has listed five tiers of
technological innovation associated with waste-water
management as also listed below. Most of the
technologies in the first four tiers are likely eligible for
R&D tax incentives.
- Research - Technologies in
the development stage that have been tested at a
laboratory or bench scale only. New technologies
that have reached the demonstration stage overseas, but
cannot yet be considered to be established there are also
considered to be research technologies with respect to
North American applications.
- Emerging - Technologies
that have been tested at a pilot or demonstration scale,
or have been implemented at full scale in 3 or fewer
installations or for less than 1 year.
- Innovative – Technologies
that have been implemented at full scale for less than
five years or have some degree of initial use.
- Adaptive Use – Some
technologies have been established for years, but their
use has not been static. In some cases, an
established technology may have been modified or adapted
resulting in an emerging technology. In other cases,
a process that was developed to achieve one treatment
objective is now being applied in different ways or to
achieve additional treatment objectives.
- Established – Technologies
that have been available and widely implemented for more
than five years.
Compressible Media
Filtration – Tier 3
The WWETCO FlexFilter™ (displayed on right)
is an example of an innovative filter technology as described
by the EPA in 2013. Some advantages of using the FlexFilter
are as follows:
- Can be applied for a number of
uses
- Does not require chemicals
- Requires considerably less
maintenance
- No moving parts
- System is simple
- Backwash is minimal
Equipment Overview
The WWETCO FlexFilter is a high rate filtration system that
utilizes synthetic compressible media. The compression of the
media is accomplished through a lateral hydraulic force
applied from the incoming liquid. This unique method of
compression eliminates mechanically actuated internal
components and provides for a tapered compression.
The varied porosity of the compressed media bed allows for
increased filtering capacity as well as the ability to treat
flow streams with higher solids concentrations while
minimizing backwash cycles. In addition to the filter's
ability to handle higher solids, the backwash system, with air
scour and specialized backwash troughs, minimizes the volume
of backwash water needed. The combination of media compression
method and backwash system makes the WWETCO FlexFilter one of
the most versatile and efficient filters on the market.
The Technology
The WWETCO FlexFilter is a simple gravity
system requiring no moving parts. The influent liquid applies
a hydrostatic force to the compression bladder causing the
media to compress. The tapered compressions provide for
densely compressed media at the bottom that graduates to an
expanded bed toward the surface.
As
the liquid flows onto the top of the media, the larger
particles are trapped in the upper portions of the filter. As
the liquid works its way down, the smaller particles are
captured. This porosity gradient within the filter bed allows
for a more effective use of the entire media bed and allows
for a higher mass load to the filter prior to backwash.
For the backwash component, the feed to the filter is stopped,
allowing the media to uncompress. The air scour is initiated
along with a small amount of backwash water. The length of the
backwash cycle is adjustable. Once cleaned, the filter is put
back into service.
Applications
- CSO and SSO Treatment
- Storm water runoff
- Replace primary sedimentation
- Tertiary treatment
- Tertiary Treatment for chemical P
removal
- Raw water pretreatment
- Industrial water pretreatment
- Dual purpose tertiary treatment
and CSO/SSO during storm event
Comparison to Established
Technologies
The WWETCO FlexFilter technology is superior to established
technologies in several respects. First, ramp up time is
significantly reduced while performance objectives are
maintained. Second, it requires no chemicals.
Third, odor issues associated with many filters are
eliminated. Finally, the footprint for the WWETCO filter
is roughly half that of existing
technology.
Multi-Stage Filtration
– Tier 3
Multi-stage filtration is a technology that
uses a multi-stage approach to make water disinfection more
efficient and effective. Many of the water treatment
plants that are being developed involve innovative technology
that ultimately involves R&D.
The City of Bloomfield, NM recently used the technology to
solve a problem associated with volatile water levels
occurring during thunderstorms at one of its water treatment
facilities. The city requires that turbidity levels (a
measure of the degree to which water loses its transparency
due to the presence of suspended particles) be maintained
below a certain level.
"The main reason it [the old system] failed was because
there wasn't adequate pretreatment to address the rapid
changes in turbidity that can be experienced with afternoon
thunderstorms in the summer," said Mike Brewer, Senior
Project Manager at CH2M Hill.
The city chose to install the Trident HS Package Water
Treatment Plant which uses the multi-stage Filtration process
to treat the water. The innovation lies in the system’s
multi-barrier design.
- Barrier 1 consists of a
section for removing bulk solids.
- Barrier 2 is an up-flow
adsorption clarifier that uses patented scarified buoyant
media;
- Barrier 3 is a mixed media
filter; and finally
- Barrier 4 is UV
disinfection.
The final selection was based on the equipment’s ability to
meet the regulatory standards; ease of operation and
maintenance; and ability to be easily expanded to meet future
population growth.
The EPA distinguishes the multi-stage filtration process from
the single stage based on the better effluent quality that
multi-stage process provides.
Nano-Filtration and
Reverse Osmosis – Tier 3
Nanotechnology is the science of
manipulating matters on a molecular or atomic scale .
Nano-filtration (NF) is a process by which water and other
fluids are pressurized through a membrane in order to separate
undesirable products such as salt water on molecular level.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the process of forcing a solvent from
a region of high solute concentration through a semi-permeable
membrane to a region of low solute concentration by applying
pressure. This is opposed to forward osmosis in which
water moves from low to high solute concentration. Both
nano-filtration and reverse osmosis are described by the EPA
as innovative. Even though the technology has been
around for some time, most new designs contain many innovative
characteristics .
The EPA uses the following language to discuss nano-filtration
in reverse osmosis plants which it considers innovative:
RO
operates by high pressure diffusion of solutes through the
membrane; NF uses both diffusion and sieving action. NF
removes many of the same organic compounds that would be
targeted with RO but allows more of the inorganic material
to remain. Both processes are used for removing priority
organic pollutants, recalcitrant organics, bacteria, and
viruses.
Recently, NF and RO have been considered as technology to
achieve low levels of total nitrogen. However, recent research
has determined that even RO does not consistently achieve
total nitrogen levels less than 1.0 mg/L. Both are useful for
removing pesticides, pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other
micro-constituents. NF and RO are primarily used where water
reuse is the treatment goal. Typically, micro-filtration or
ultra-filtration is used as a pretreatment process for water
that is required to be treated through NF or RO. The membranes
are typically made of cellulose acetate or aromatic polyamides
and are spiral wound and hollow fiber.
NF
is operated at lower pressures, so it uses less energy than
RO. Both require membrane replacement as trans-membrane
pressure increases from fouling.
Comparison to Established
Technologies
Micro-filtration and ultra-filtration membranes (which are the
traditional technologies) are used for membrane bioreactors
where the membrane is in direct contact with the high solids
mixed liquor. These membranes provide excellent removal of
particulate and colloidal material but cannot remove dissolved
constituents as can NF and RO. NF and RO remove total
suspended solids, total dissolved solids, and other pathogens
better than the ultra-filtration process.
Forward Osmosis
The technology is much newer than reverse
osmosis and is still undergoing substantial developments, more
so than reverse osmosis. Forward osmosis systems, although not
as common as reverse osmosis systems offer innovative
solutions to challenging situations. One
benefit is that a forward osmosis plant can recover 80% of the
salt water that is processed through the system. This is
a 30% improvement over the 50% recovery rate in a typical
reverse osmosis plant.
Phosphorus Recovery as
a Usable By-Product
Phosphorus is an elemental nutrient in
agriculture. There is a strong demand for it in the
production of fertilizer and subsequently, a growing shortage
of it as well. The good news for fertilizer users is
that municipal wastewater often contains high levels of it
that must be removed in order to make water potable. The
biological recovery method for extracting the
inorganic phosphates in order make the most efficient use of
them are often innovative as described by the EPA. The
biological method allows a larger portion of phosphorus to be
released during anaerobic digestion and effectively utilizes
the product as a fertilizer. This is in contrast to
traditional methods of phosphorus removal where the phosphorus
by-product is nothing more than mere waste product.
Magnetite Ballasted
Sedimentation – Tier 3
Sedimentation is the process of allowing
particles suspended in water to settle out of the suspension
under the effect of gravity. The particles that settle out
from the suspension become sediment. In water treatment
operations they are known as sludge. Ballasted
flocculation is a chemical treatment process that uses
continuously recycled media and a variety of additives to
improve the settling properties of suspended solids.
Comparison to Established
Technologies
Magnetite is denser than suspended solids and sand, and it
generates heavy, dense floc that settles rapidly. This allows
otherwise ordinary clarifiers to be loaded at higher than
typical rates while maintaining high quality effluent. The
footprint of clarifiers used in this process is
correspondingly small. The magnetite seed is recovered from
sludge using a magnet instead of gravity, so recovery
efficiency is high, and magnetite make-up requirements are
low. As with other processes employed to chemically
precipitate phosphorus, precipitation performance is limited
by kinetic and stoichiometric factors. However, the
nucleation, solids contact and ballast provided by the process
combine to allow phosphorus precipitates to be removed very
effectively once they are formed.
Industrial Filters
Industrial filters include a very broad
range of applications. Nearly every manufacturing
operation involves the use of filters in some way.
Farmers use them in their irrigation systems, in laying down
seeds or fertilizer and in sorting their crops; asphalt
plants use bag houses to suction dust from stones; and
restaurants use exhaust systems to filter out exhaust from
stoves. Some other more cliché uses of filters involve
painting operations filters which are discussed below.
Painting Operations
Painting operations at industrial
facilities emit large quantities of volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) into the atmosphere each year. Most, if not all, of
these VOCs are classified as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)
because they are known or suspected to be detrimental to human
health. In addition, VOC emissions can contribute to formation
of ground level ozone, a problem facing many urban areas
across the country. A need therefore exists to develop an
efficient and environmentally friendly system to treat paint
booth emissions and to meet increasingly stringent
environmental regulations. While conventional air pollution
control technologies can be effective for paint spray booth
applications, they are often energy intensive, create
undesirable byproducts and may not be cost effective for
treating the intermittent, high volumetric flow rates and low
contaminant concentrations associated with booth
operations. Innovative filter solutions are constantly
being developed to address not only these environmental
concerns but also to enhance performance of the sprayers while
reducing both purchasing and maintenance costs of the filter.
Paint Pockets Company in Omaha, NE has developed one of many
innovative approaches to enhance performance in industrial,
automotive, and aerospace applications. They boast that
their filters knock down and retain more overspray than any
other arrestor. The unique design involves three-dimensional
“pockets” embedded in the front face of the filter that more
than double surface area, allowing the arrestor to capture and
hold large quantities of overspray. Additionally, the
paint pocket arrestors have superior wet tensile strength so
they won’t tear or sag when they are loaded with large
quantities of overspray.
Independent laboratory test reports confirm Paint Pockets
excels at capturing the very small 2.5 to 10 micron particles
that typify overspray produced in most spray finishing
operations. The arrestor effectively captures and retains
these particles, preventing them from contaminating downstream
equipment. Paint Pockets removes far more particles from the
booth exhaust than any other high performance, single-stage
overspray arrestor.
Southwest Research
Institute
Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®),
based in San Antonio, TX, evaluates filtration performance,
solves filtration-related problems and assists in defining
filtration requirements. Their area of focus is in automotive
and aviation systems filtration. Automobiles contain a
number of different filters i.e. oil filters, fuel filters,
air filters, hydraulic filters, radiators and emissions
filters. Airplanes contain even more. These filters must be
designed to withstand various pressure levels, size limits,
accessibility considerations and increasingly competitive
industry performance standards. Each client has a
differing need for a particular filter. Engineers at the
facility must develop custom tests to meet specific client
requirements. Other times clients will bring in failed
filters. The engineers at the facility will disassemble
the filter cartridge to evaluate individual components of the
contaminant and determine the cause of the failure.
The filtration test methods include the
following:
- Incorporating real world
parameters into the method
- Improving repeatability and
reproducibility in the laboratory
- Shock analysis
- Temperature analysis
- Fluid compatibility
- Chemical analysis
- Microscopic analysis of filter
material and that which is filtered
- Lubricity analysis
UCLA
University of California researchers
recently invented a new membrane that promises to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of water filtration and
desalination. Eric M.V. Hoek, Ph.D., assistant professor
of civil and environmental engineering at the Henry Samueli
School of Engineering and Applied Science, and UCLA’s
California NanoSystems Institute, began developing his
nano-composite membranes in 2003.
The technology consists of specially designed nanoparticles
embedded within the membrane. The nanoparticles soak up water
like a sponge but repel contaminants such as dissolved salts,
industrial chemicals and bacteria. These results in high
purity water with lower energy consumption, in addition to
longer-lasting, cleaner membranes that do not become clogged
with impurities — a problem with conventional membranes.
Conclusion
With increasingly stringent clean air
requirements and widespread concern over biological
ecosystems, filtration technologies are rapidly
developing. The EPA discusses several technologies in
which it describes as innovative in the 2013 Emerging
Technologies for Wastewater Treatment. These
technologies and many other innovations are often eligible for
federal and state R&D tax credits.
