Total organic carbon analyzer for environment study

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The need for improved water treatment technologies has become extremely pressing as the effects of population growth and climate change place increasing demands on our water resources. Currently there is inadequate access to water for sanitation and waste disposal for 2.5 billion people worldwide and lack of safe drinking water for 884 million people. These staggering numbers coupled with the increasing need for energy conservation set the stage for the urgent development of efficient and environmentally friendly water purification technologies. The economy of Northwestern Ontario relies heavily on the mining and pulp & paper industries. Improved wastewater remediation technologies are needed by the mining and pulp & paper industries as environmental regulations are becoming stricter. A total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer is considered as a must-have tool for the studies of wastewater remediation and water purification. We propose to purchase a TOC analyzer with high sensitivity and covering a wide range of TOC from 4 ppb to 25,000 ppm. The requested total organic carbon analyzer is urgently needed to support the applicant's NSERC Discovery research program aiming at the development of new Green Technologies for the remediation of industrial waste streams in the mining and pulp & paper industries and the purification of groundwater. The proposed TOC analyzer represents a unique addition to the research capability at Lakehead and in this region. Because most of samples to be analyzed are toxic, it would be extremely difficult to send them away for TOC analysis. The requested TOC analyzer is thus essential for the applicant to develop efficient electrochemical oxidation and photochemical degradation for wastewater treatment based upon nanostructured electrocatalysts and photocatalysts. The TOC analyzer is also essential to student training in water and wastewater analysis, and to further collaborations with other scientists and industry. The requested TOC analyzer will be used over 150 hours per month by the applicant, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students, and research scientists.