An Automated Nutrient Analyzer System for Biological Research

这是为购买自动营养分析系统申请资金。这将是一个多用户仪器，并将被安置在UCSB海洋科学研究所（MSI）的共用分析和仪器设施中。 新的分析仪将取代一个已有十年历史的系统，该系统不再具有支持当前和拟议研究项目所需的能力。 了解水生系统中溶解无机营养盐的浓度对广泛的生物学研究具有根本的重要性。MSI的研究人员感兴趣的领域包括淡水和盐水系统，包括亚马逊河湖泊和河流系统的水文和生态研究，合并水团和沿海涌升区的营养动态，加州的Sierra内华达州流域的地球化学过程，沿海河口的水质和营养循环研究，以及北方和南极地区的生态研究。 这些研究中有11项需要分析大量水样中多达5种营养物质。 营养物分析是使用一种已经使用了10多年的分析仪系统进行的，该系统存在各种问题，包括检测器不稳定、检测极限相对较差以及普遍过时。 上述一些项目正在进行中，而需要进行营养分析的新项目正在启动和/或几乎不断地提出。它们的一个共同特点是需要更好、更快的营养分析。例如，在沿海沼泽和河口的营养循环研究中，需要一个系统，该系统可以自动处理经常遇到的广泛的浓度（1至1000 μ M）和盐度（0至34 ppt）（过去需要容易出错的手动稀释和盐度调整）。在处理极性系统的程序中，样本量（出于物流原因）和分析时间（由于样本稳定性）至关重要。在最近启动的一项长期计划中，监测影响沿海地区沉积作用的化学，物理和生物参数，这些参数具有高分辨率的沉积记录，快速变化的海洋条件需要及时的营养分析（为项目提供快速反馈），具有高灵敏度（检测枯竭沃茨）和高精度（跟踪细微的长期变化）。 所要求的分析仪系统将满足所有这些要求。 我们要求的系统是Perstorp Flow Solution III，这是一款具有流动注射和分段功能的连续流动分析仪 流 技术. 它将被配置为 为 同时分析多达五种营养物质（磷酸盐，硝酸盐， 亚硝酸盐、二氧化硅和氨），以及 将 包括 随机存取 autosarnpler，蠕动泵， 注射 阀门，分析盒，五种营养素，双光束光度检测器， 和PC型计算机/控制器， 基于Windows的软件。

This is a request for funds for the purchase of an automated nutrient analysis system. This would be a multi-user instrument, and would be housed in a shared-use analytical and instrumentation facility at UCSB's Marine Science Institute (MSI). The new analyzer would replace a ten-year-old system that no longer has the capabilities required to support current and proposed research projects. Knowledge of the concentrations of dissolved inorganic nutrients in aquatic systems is of fundamental importance to a wide range of biological studies. Areas of interest to researchers at MSI encompass both fresh and salt water systems, and have included such diverse areas as hydrological and ecological studies of Amazonian lake and river systems, nutrient dynamics in areas of merging water masses and coastal upwelling, biogeochemical processes in California's Sierra Nevada watershed, water quality and nutrient cycling studies in coastal estuaries, and ecological studies in both northern and southern polar regions. A11 of these studies have required the analysis of large numbers of water samples for up to five nutrient species. Nutrient analyses have been done using an analyzer system that is now over 10 years old, and which suffers from various problems, including unstable detectors, relatively poor detection limits, and general obsolescence. Some of the aforementioned projects are ongoing, while new projects requiring nutrient analyses are starting up and/or being proposed almost continuously. A feature they all have in common is the need for better and faster nutrient analysis. In the nutrient cycling studies of coastal marshes and estuaries, for example, a system is required that can automaticallv handle the wide range of concentrations (1 to 1000 uM) and salinities (O to 34 ppt) that are routinely encountered (error-prone manual dilutions and salini ty adjustments having been necessary in the past). In the programs dealing with polar systems, sample size (for logistical reasons) and analysis time (because of sample stability) are critical. And in a recently initiated long-term program to monitor the chemical, physical, and biological parameters influencing sedimentation in a coastal area featuring a high-resolution sedimentary record, the rapidly changing oceanographic conditions require timely nutrient analyses (to provide quick feedback to the project), with both high sensitivity (to detect depleted waters), and high precision (to follow subtle long-term changes). The requested analyzer system would fill all of these requirements. The system we are requesting is the Perstorp Flow Solution III, a continuous-flow analyzer with capabilities for both flow injection and segmented flow technologies. It would be configured for the simultaneous analysis of up to five nutrient species (phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, silica, and ammonia), and would include a random-access autosarnpler, peristaltic pump, injection valves, analysis cartridges for the , five nutrients, double-beam photometric detectors, and a PC-type computer/controller with Windows-based software.