Water processing by high intensity pulsed electric fields

In this paper, a cap-charger based pulse power supply capable of producing peak voltage of 40 kV at a repetition rate of 300 pps was used in a closed-loop continuous flow water-treatment system under different conditions. The effect of different pulse parameters (pulse width, treatment time and electric field), system parameters (liquid conductivity) and microorganisms' parameters (type, shape and size of micro-organisms) on the killing efficiency of pulsed electric field (PEF) was investigated. The results show that the combination of both the pulse magnitude and width is crucial to improve the killing efficiency using PEF. Also, the medium conductivity can significantly reduce the pulse magnitude and width and hence negatively influence the capability of PEF to inactivate microorganisms.