SBIR Phase I: Nutrient Analyzer with Integrated Optics and Glass-Diaphragm Pump for Field Studies

该小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将评估开发比色现场分析仪的可行性，该分析仪将自动监测农业径流、废水、河流和河口中的无机营养物质，并提供模拟环境中营养物质分布所需的数据。这个项目吗?他的长期目标是开发一种可以测量硝酸盐、亚硝酸盐、铵和正磷酸盐的仪器。该仪器将设计用于长期无人值守的现场作业，并将以适当的灵敏度进行实时测量。其操作将基于批准的比色方法。它将完全由与相关化学相容的材料（熔融二氧化硅）制成，每次测量只需要微升的试剂，并且将集成一个光学分析部分，永远不需要重新调整或校准。这项研究的更广泛/商业影响是显而易见的，因为预期最初的市场将由在海洋学和环境科学领域工作的研究人员组成。一般公众将从这项工作中受益，因为基本的水质参数将以一种具有成本效益的方式进行测量，并将收集解决营养物生物地球化学中重要环境变异性所需的规模的全面时间数据。营养物浓度及其时空变化，为评价河流、湖泊、河口和海洋环境的生物活性提供了视角。由一家小型企业和美国国家科学基金会资助的研究中心合作开发的绿色产品将被流域监测机构、市政当局和监管机构采用。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will evaluate the feasibility of developing a colorimetric field-analyzer that will autonomously monitor inorganic nutrients in agricultural runoff, waste waters, rivers, and estuaries, and provide the data necessary to model nutrient distribution in the environment. The program?s long-term goal is to develop an instrument that can measure nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, and orthophosphate. This instrument will be designed for prolonged unattended field operations and will perform real-time measurements with the appropriate sensitivity limits. Its operation will be based on approved colorimetric methodologies. It will be made entirely of a material (fused silica) compatible with the associated chemistries, will require only microliters of reagent per measurement, and will integrate an optical analytical section that will never require realignment or calibration. The broader/commercial impacts of this research are evident in that the initial market is expected to be comprised of researchers working in the field of oceanography and environmental sciences. The public-at-large will benefit from this work as essential water quality parameters will be measured in a cost-effective way, and comprehensive temporal data at the scale needed to resolve important environmental variability in nutrient biogeochemistry will be collected. Nutrient concentration and the spatial and temporal change in concentration, provide perspective for assessing the biological activity of streams, lakes, estuaries, and oceanic environments. The en product resulting from this collaborative effort between a small business and a NSF-funded research center will be adopted by watershed monitoring agencies, municipalities, and regulatory bodies.