I-Corps: Commercialization of Novel CO2 Measurement Technologies

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To measure the aquatic environmental effects caused by fossil fuel combustion and increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), accurate measurements of CO2 system parameters are needed for seawater, lake waters, and river waters. There is currently a lack of low-cost instrumentation for precise and accurate on-site monitoring, and discrete CO2 system measurements of collected samples. Building on the team's previous successful development of instrumentation for measurements of nutrients, trace metals and CO2 system parameters, this I-Corps team proposes to translate its technologies into a scientific instrument company by commercializing an array of instruments for use in a variety of research entities, teaching institutions and industries. The core business of the company is to design, construct and manufacture CO2-system measurement instrumentation that includes use of multiple platforms - underway shipboard systems, laboratory systems, and in situ systems.The proposed technology offers an array of different instruments to meet customers' needs. For research institutions, the proposed technology provides state of the art instrumentation that meets the most demanding requirements for data precision and accuracy. The proposed in situ instruments are user configurable for different measurements, significantly reducing acquisition costs. The proposed underway shipboard system provides full characterization of the CO2 system, and a small footprint that cannot be matched with any other technologies. For regulatory agencies, and fisheries industries, to monitor and mitigate the effects of ocean acidification this technology offers very low cost pH sensors that have a precision better than 0.01 pH unit. Through the founding of an advanced instrumentation company, this team will transition customized prototype instruments to commercial instruments by integrating different measurement components into user friendly packages. Collectively these instruments will provide powerful tools for environmental science and, in particular, important new capabilities for investigation of CO2-system chemistry and the impact of ocean acidification on the environment.