Abstracts

Environmental Protection/Mitigation - Environmental Protection/Mitigation

• Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Perchlorate at Trace Concentrations - Oak Ridge National Laboratory  (learn more)
• A Method and Product for Evaluating Water and Contaminant Migration at the Groundwater-Surface Water Interface - SPAWAR (learn more)
• Detection of Subsurface Tunnels and Potable Groundwater Using a Direct Push Soil Video Imaging System ( learn more)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Decision

Technology: Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Perchlorate at Trace Concentrations

This technology features novel sensor materials for rapid and real-time detection of perchlorate at concentrations to less than 1 part per billion. Sensors consist of organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous sol-gels which are doped with Ag (silver) or co-doped with both Ag colloids and trialkylammonium cationic functional groups, which attract and concentrate perchlorate ClO4 onto silica based films.

This film is then used for detection of ClO4 in water by means of a portable Raman spectrometer system recently developed at the Oak Ridge National laboratory. The major advantages of Raman detection are the rapidity, specificity and sensitivity in comparison with conventional ion chromatographic techniques.

Contact:

Baohua Gu
Senior Research Staff
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
UT-Battelle LLC
1 Bethel Valley Road
Bldg. 1505, Rm 218
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6036
Phone: (865)-574-7286
Fax: (865)-576-8543

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SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego Environmental Sciences Division

Technology: A Method and Product for Evaluating Water and Contaminant Migration at the Groundwater-Surface Water Interface

The Navy and other US government agencies have identified a large number of terrestrial hazardous waste sites located adjacent to harbors, bays, estuaries, and wetlands that are subject to a flux of terrestrial groundwater contaminants posing risks to human health and the environment. The goal of this project is to commercialize a technique and instrumentation for surveying, quantifying, and describing contaminated groundwater discharge from such sites into the neighboring surface water bodies. The system was developed by the Navy and consists of two components, a survey instrument and a monitoring sampler (Trident probe and UltraSeep system) to measure seepage rates, log sensor data, and capture samples of the discharge. This combination allows direct quantification of groundwater migration from terrestrial hazardous waste sites to the marine or other surface water environment. The product has been licensed by The Oceanscience Group (a California corporation) into a commercial instrument system for sale to the public. Oceanscience has existing synergistic technology.

Contact:

SPAWAR Systems Center
Dr. D. Bart Chadwick
San Diego Environmental Sciences Division
Code 2362
43475 Strothe Rd.
San Diego, CA 92152
619-553-5333
619-553-3097
Chadwick@spawar.navy.mil

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Detection of Subsurface Tunnels and Potable Groundwater Using a Direct Push Soil Video Imaging System

Technology: Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Perchlorate at Trace Concentrations

The direct push video imaging system was originally developed for use in the Site Characterization and Analysis Penetrometer System (SCAPS) program to document soil properties. However this technology has other, potential, non-environmental applications, including detection of tunnels at the US-Mexico border and the detection of potable water for troops deployed near a military zone.

The original purpose of the direct push video imaging system was to provide a real-time method for characterizing subsurface soil properties and generating information on soil type, porosity, and the presence of groundwater. This information is then used to determine the fate and transport of contaminants and deciding which remediations schemes are appropriate and how to optimize applicable parameters.

The video microscope system consists of a miniature CCD color camera with appropriate magnification and focusing optics to provide field of view coverage of approximately 2 mm x3 mm. The camera/optic system is mounted in a cone-penetrometer probe so that the camera views the soil that is in contact with a sapphire window mounted on the side of the probe. The soil outside the window is illuminated by diffuse light provided through the window using an LED illumination system. The video signal is returned to the surface where it can be displayed in real-time on a video monitor, recorded on a video cassette recorder (VCR), and/or captured digitally with a frame grabber installed in a microcomputer system. In its highest resolution configuration, the in-situ camera system has demonstrated a capability to resolve particle sizes as small as 10 µm.

Contact:

Dr. Pamela A. Boss
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (2363)
53475 Strothe Rd., Rm 204
San Diego, CA 92152-6325
Phone: (619) 553-1603
Fax: (619) 767-4339
Email: bossp@spawar.navy.mil

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