Advances Made in Hazardous Gas Detection

Researchers at the University of Pittsburg and the National Energy Technology Laboratory have developed a method to assemble gold nanowires. That's nice, you say, but what will that be used for, nano-necklaces? No, no, these gold nanowires have much more important work to do. These nanowires are a cheaper way of detecting hazardous gasses, such as hydrogen sulfide gas, etc, that are present in natural gas. They can detect the hydrogen sulfide in a mixture of gasses, even. The abilities of these gold nanowires are comperable to the existing technologies' sensitivity to hydrogen sulfide, and other hazardous gasses. The next step in the research proceedure is testing using samples from real natural gas wells. And after that, maybe we can hope to see more affordable, and more portable hazardous gas detectors and analyzers

Want to read more? Check this out:www.news.pitt.edu/goldnanowires

Keywords: Combustable Gas Detector, Hydrogen Gas Detection, Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Detection, Hazardous Gas Detection, Hydrogen Gas Analyzer, Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Analyzer

Methane Gas Found Near Landfill

A landfill in Illinois is producing and emitting methane gas, and a system for capturing the gas is in production. The captured gas would then be connected to the power plant for the landfill. Until the recovery system is in place, however, area home owners are at risk of having methane gas in their homes, a problem that the waste management department will help to solve. The landfill itself, is having readings taken with methane gas detectors and analyzers, via probes, in catch basins, and in manholes. The production of the methane gas, officials have noted, is varying in concentration and pressure, depending upon the weather conditions.

Keywords: Methane Gas, Methane Gas Detection, Methane Gas Analysis, Hazardous Gas Detector, Gas Transmitter, Hazardous Gas Analyzer

Q45H-79 Total Chlorine Monitor

While chlorine has become the most widely used disinfectant in the world, there are still some applications where monitoring chlorine residuals can present a challenge. Multiple forms of chlorine in drinking water, wastewater effluent, and cooling tower water require a Total Chlorine measurement to ensure that all chemical species are quantified. In some cases, the chlorine concentration is quite low and often below the detection limits of conventional monitors.

 ATI has developed a new total residual chlorine monitor with improved sensitivity and zero stability to meet these applications. The Q45H-79 Total Chlorine Monitor uses standard EPA approved iodometric chemistry where, by addition of buffer and potassium iodide, the various chlorine compounds in solution react to form iodine. The iodine released in this reaction is measured using a highly sensitive amperometric sensor capable of 1 PPB sensitivity. The output of this sensor is linear with respect to concentration and provides fast response for both upscale and downscale concentration changes.

  Q45H-79 Total Chlorine monitors (analyzers, Transmitters) are available in two versions, one that includes all components conveniently integrated into a NEMA 4X fiberglass enclosure, and a second that separates the chlorine monitor from the chemistry system for applications where a more convenient display location is desired. A sample inlet filter assembly attached to the side of the enclosure allows filtered sample to be drawn from the inlet flow. Sample must be pumped to the inlet assembly at a rate high enough to insure the desired response time for the measurement system. Excess sample is bypassed to any convenient drain location.

Typhoid Outbreak Due to Abscence of Chlorine Monitors

Eight-year-old Jessa Arquillano asked her parents for tasty food when she was sick.

That was her request just before she died on Saturday, a victim of typhoid fever in northwest Tuburan town.

Tuburan Mayor Aljun Diamante declared a state of calamity in his town, where Jessa was one of four deaths and over 600 cases of suspected typhoid in an outbreak that erupted last week.

Fecal coliform was found in the town’s three water sources, said Renan Cimafranca of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) in Region 7 yesterday.

Water samples were examined using rapid testing kits.

Cimafranca said he suspected that the bacteria, which is found in human or animal waste, was washed away by the rain and mixed with open springs in barangays Marmol and Kalangahan.

It affected other barangays because the water pipes were  interconnected, he said.

Contaminated water is the main suspect in the town’s rural water system, which lacks chlorine filters and relies on three spring sources.

Mayor Diamante confirmed that there were no chlorinators in the town’s spring-fed waterworks system, a condition he said existed before he was elected mayor.

“We just installed them now when the cases erupted,” he told CDN.

The mayor declared a state of calamity last March 2 because of the wave of cases of fever, severe diarrhea and headaches, which are symptoms of typhoid.

Patients come from 20 of Tuburan’s 54 barangays.

In Manila, Dr. Eric Tayag, director of the National Epidemiolgoy Center of the Department of Health, said  the DOH decided to declare an outbreak pending results of laboratory tests because the number of cases in the area had exceeded the average.

“

Outbreaks are declared when cases are more than the five-year average for a particular place,” Tayag explained.

“We want to confirm the diagnosis that is why we are waiting for the laboratory test results.”  “There are strong suspicions that contaminated water is the source of the outbreak and we know that typhoid fever is water-borne” he added.

Jessa suffered fever for a week. She was admitted in Tuburan District Hospital last Friday, March 2.  She died the next day and was immediately buried in the public cemetery.

Cimafranca, head of the RESU in Region 7, confirmed that the four patients died of typhoid ilietis, a condition where the patient’s intestines sustain holes caused by the typhoid bacteria and hemorrhage.

He said the contaminated water supply was found in spring sources in barangays of Marmol, Alegria and Kalangahan, where Tuburan draws its water.

Tuburan is a second class municipality located 96.7 kilometers from Cebu City.

Cimafranca said the DOH already declared a “code red” in the crowded district hospital.

Typhoid fever is an acute, life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella enterica.

People fall ill from drinking water or eating food contaminated by the human waste of another person infected with the bacteria.

Among the symptoms of typhoid fever are fever, diarrhea or constipation, los of appetite, and presence of blood in the stool.

Cimafranca said RESU and medical staff met with town officials last Saturday and urged them to install chlorinators in the water sources.

CDN visited the water source in Alegria, where a concrete water tank stores the collected water.

Water service was stopped Saturday, said Alan Batoon, who lives nearby. An improvised chlorinator was installed Sunday night by municipal workers.

Batoon said his two children fell ill after drinking the water. Residents were advised to buy mineral water or boil their drinking water for 10 minutes

Analytical Technology

Why Monitor Chlorine?

In our society today, we take for granted that we have clean drinking water. We assume that we won't get water born illnesses. Chlorine is what is responsible for that luxury, but what happened before chlorinated drinking water was available? Sickness like cholera and dysentery were rampant in the pre-chlorinated water days. But in 1854, a British doctor made the link between contaminated drinking water and cholera, and then treated the water with chlorine in order to kill the organism. In the years since, it has become the standard to use chlorine in order to treat water with chlorine in conjunction with the filtering processes for water treatment. There can be too much of a good thing, however. So, what happens when chlorine levels are too high? Chlorine is a gas, and when breathed in, results in respiratory distress, chest pain and water retention in the lungs. In order to prevent this, chlorine monitors and analyzers are used in the water treatment processes so that workers are not injured. Chlorine dissolves into our water and thus kills the microorganisms that would otherwise harm us. A process that in one form or another, has been happening for over one hundred years, giving us safe drinking water. Due, in part, to closely analyzed chlorine.

ATI’s Model Q46HChlorine Monitor

ATI’s Model Q46HChlorine Monitor is an upgraded version of our proven Q45

system for continuous monitoring of free or combined chlorine. Monitor capabilities have been expanded to include options for a 3rd analog output, or for adding additional low power relay outputs.

The Q46H system uses a polarographic membraned sensor to measure chlorine

directly, without the need for chemical reagents. When needed, automatic pH

compensation may be added for highest free chlorine measurement accuracy, and

systems are available to provide 4-20 mA outputs for chlorine, pH, and temperature

to allow easy CT calculations.

Q46H systems are economical to purchase, economical to maintain, and provide

long term accuracy and reliability for your chlorine monitoring needs.

ATI can supply the Q46 complete with sample flow controls mounted to a PVC

back plate ready to mount. Connect power, water sample, and analog/relay

outputs and your ready to go. Systems are available with or without a flow switch

for remote indication of loss of sample

Two types of chlorine sensors are available, one designed for flow cell installation and one for submersion applications. Free chlorine monitoring should always be done using a flow cell system. Good control of sample flow and pressure is important for accurate measurement, and the standard constant-head flow cell should be used for most applications. A sealed flowcell and a low-volume flow cell are also available for special applications. Consult your ATI representative for application assistance.

Submersible combined chlorine sensors can sometimes be used for measuring total chlorine in waste water effluent. Waste water effluents containing more than 1 PPM of ammonia often result in a chlorine residual that is more than 90% monochloramine. Direct measurement with a submersible sensor can provide a dependable monitor without all the sampling and chemicals associated with total

chlorine measurement.

Chlorine sensors, especially free chlorine, require up to 8 hours of stabilization time when first installed or after membrane change. ATI offers a battery powered “polarizer” that can be used to stabilize a spare sensor so it is ready to run within a few minutes of installation. Polarizers simply plug into the sensor connector and require no adjustments.

Urban Legend: Super Bowl causes super spike in Sewer Lines

      There is quite a grimy urban legend that surrounds Super Bowl Sunday and it goes something like this: During Super Bowl half time a mass influx of people go to the bathroom at the same time and that causes a spike the flow of sewers into treatment plants. I suppose logically speaking that should make sense, but practically speaking, no, it doesn't work that way.

      Kevin Enfinger, a senior project engineer with ADS Environmental Services, states that this is not the case at all. Enfinger states, "If you were at the stadium, you would see a spike at halftime when people tend to run to the restroom, but in residential America, that's not really what we find." In fact. he states that Super Bowl Sunday is a slow day, because people are stopping what they would normally do, such as shower, wash their hands, use the bathroom, etcera, and instead they are watching the game. 

      During the 2007 Super Bowl, when the Indianapolis Colts played the Chicago Bears, ADS Environmental Services used its equipment set up at an Indianapolis sewage treatment plant to measure Super Bowl flows. What the company found is a spike in usage before the game and below-average usage during game time.

      The change in bathroom activity also depends on what part of the country you are in. For example, if an East Coast team is playing, sewage flows out West will likely match what they do on any given Sunday, Enfinger said.

      The expanse of the sewer system also makes it difficult to accurately measure a halftime spike in activity. "If you've got 30 or 40 miles of sewer lines, obviously the flows that are flushed close to the plant would come in, go through it and be gone before the flows from 30 miles away," he said. "It's not like it's all instantaneous. It may take up to eight hours for that flow to get here from different parts of the system."