SBIR Phase I: Supercritical Water Oxidation Based Dissolved Organic Carbon Analyzer

该小型企业创新研究一期项目的重点是开发一种基于超临界水氧化（SCWO）的总有机碳（TOC）分析仪，用于测定海水中的溶解有机碳（DOC）。提出的创新利用了超临界水独特的化学性质来实现对复杂有机物质的极其严格和彻底的氧化。预计这种新方法将为化学海洋学家提供一种有用的替代现有仪器技术的方法。有时，不同测量技术所得的DOC结果在应用于海水样本时，一致性相对较差。目前用于测定海水中DOC的分析仪器存在碳回收率不一致、性能随时间下降、校准困难以及有害的基质效应等问题。基于SCWO的DOC分析仪（SCWO-DOC）旨在为缓解这些困难提供一种手段。原则上，SCWO-DOC分析仪使用的是饱和氧水，该水经过加热和加压，其值大于溶解有机分子完全“深度氧化”或矿化的临界点，从而形成无机物质，包括：CO2， H20, NO3-, SO4=和PO4-3。然后在气相中除去二氧化碳，并使用非色散红外（NDIR）探测器非常准确地定量。该分析仪实现了一种简单、可靠、无试剂、快速、一步的DOC测定方法，具有很强的潜力，可对难降解的溶解有机物进行极严格的氧化，并且对干扰的敏感性极小。第一阶段的工作将展示分析海水样本概念的可行性。预期第二阶段的后续工作将最终发展和测试一个可由化学海洋学界成员评价的原型。一种更准确、更可靠的测定总有机碳（TOC）的仪器方法将在整个分析化学中得到广泛应用。这项新技术将在生物技术、制药、半导体和海洋分析应用中引起特别的兴趣，这些应用需要对非常低水平的未表征且通常难溶的溶解有机物质进行定量。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project focuses on the development of a Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) based Total Organic Carbon (TOC) analyzer is proposed for the determination of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in seawater. The proposed innovation takes advantage of the unique chemical properties of supercritical water to achieve an extremely rigorous and thorough oxidation of complex organic substances. It is anticipated that this new methodology will provide chemical oceanographers with a useful alternative to current instrumental techniques. On occasion there has been relatively poor agreement among the DOC results derived by different measurement techniques when applied to seawater samples. Current analytical instruments for the determination of DOC in seawater suffer from inconsistent carbon recoveries, degradation of performance with time, calibration difficulties, and deleterious matrix effects. The SCWO based DOC analyzer (SCWO-DOC) is intended to provide a means for the mitigation of these difficulties. In principal, the SCWO-DOC analyzer utilizes oxygen saturated water which has been heated and pressurized to values greater than the respective critical points for the complete 'deep oxidation' or mineralization of dissolved organic molecules, resulting in the formation of inorganic species including: CO2, H20, NO3-, SO4=, and PO4-3. The CO2 is then removed in the vapor phase and quantified very accurately using a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) detector. The proposed analyzer embodies a simple, reliable, reagentless, rapid, one step method of DOC determination with strong potential for extremely rigorous oxidation of refractory dissolved organics and with minimal susceptibility to interferences. The Phase I effort will demonstrate the feasibility of the concept for the analysis of seawater samples. It is anticipated that follow-on work at the Phase II level will culminate in the development and testing of a prototype which can be evaluated by members of the chemical oceanographic community. A more accurate and reliable instrumental means of determining total organic carbon (TOC) would find wide application throughout analytical chemistry. This new technology will be of particular interest in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, and oceanographic analytical applications which require quantitation of very low levels of un-characterized and often refractory dissolved organic substances.