| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | December 20, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | December 20, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1747293 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Anna Brady-Estevez
TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | January 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $225,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $225,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
525 S HEWITT ST LOS ANGELES CA US 90013-2217 (626)765-5580 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
396 San Marino Ave Pasadena CA US 91107-5050 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | SBIR Phase I |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project addresses a great demand for in-situ chemical sensor technology with ability to (1) Measure with high resolution the environmental footprint of agricultural and urban development, and (2) Identify potential safety issues related to drinking water quality. High concentrations of nutrients (e.g. nitrate, nitrite, orthophosphate) in surface waters are the source of environmental, public health, and economic issues. Active monitoring of nutrient concentrations in surface waters such as estuaries, lakes and rivers is critical in assessing their health and implementing timely action to minimize ecosystem degradation. This SBIR project aims at developing a disruptive new type of highly miniaturized autonomous water quality chemical sensor, that can be operated remotely and autonomously, has minimal installation and maintenance requirements, is capable of performing thousands of measurements directly in-situ, in both reagent-based and reagent-less configuration, on a single battery charge. Applications that will greatly benefit from such sensors range from scientific research, to estimating nutrient loads, establishing discharge limits, predicting eutrophication conditions and demonstrating compliance with regulatory reporting requirements. Independently, the drinking water industry has its own requirements for autonomous chemical sensors for monitoring reservoirs and distribution networks, optimizing treatment processes and identifying tank nitrification issues early-on.
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to achieve the highest level of miniaturization and functionality attempted in a commercial water quality sensor. The core innovation of this proposed e-CHEM system is in the microfluidic chemical analysis module, combining a novel highly-efficient mixing mechanism to homogenize minute volumes of reagent with the fluid sample with a microfluidic implementation of dual reagent-based and reagent-less chemical measurement capability, the possibility of controlling relevant chemical reactions in-situ via precise on-chip temperature management, and finally the potential of overcoming the important hurdle of bio-fouling via novel surface nano-engineering. The parameters measured will include a selection from: ortho-phosphates, nitrites, nitrates, dissolved organic carbon, total and/or free chlorine, free ammonia, and pH. The system will include bidirectional wireless telemetry to enable automatic alert generation and data transmission to remote servers for visualization, analysis and interpretation. Target accuracy and response times are superior to traditional measurement techniques due to full process automation, elimination of sample degradation and transit times, reduction of human error, and automatic data centralization.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The e-CHEM project targeted the development of a drinking water quality analyzer prototype capable to perform multiple water quality analyses directly within the critical client infrastructure, and operate fully autonomously with real-time transmission of data. This complex project required developments in numerous technical disciplines (MEMS engineering, analytical chemistry, micro-optics, fluid dynamics, mechanics, electronics, telecommunications, product packaging, server administration, data security, and data interpretation), as well as close interaction with major pilot clients to define the exact requirements, perform initial testing, install within the client infrastructure, and analyze results and feedback received from operational field teams.
The chemical analysis module development, representing the key element at the core of the e-CHEM analyzer, was engineered to take advantage of the latest microfluidics technology. Multiple modules have been developed within the project, which enable precise handling, complex manipulations and measurements of minute volumes of fluid sample and reagent mixtures, within a highly miniaturized system footprint. The microfluidic technology introduced at every level in the e-CHEM sensor, from sampling to temperature control, and from reagent mixing to analysis, has allowed e-CHEM to achieve the highest level of miniaturization and functionality ever implemented in a commercial water quality sensor.
Side-by-side testing has been performed in a client facility water quality laboratory between the e-CHEM analyzer and laboratory analysis on multiple real samples brought from reservoirs and tanks throughout the region. The testing was successful, with e-CHEM and laboratory results being well correlated. This has convinced the client to proceed with the installation of a prototype e-CHEM analyzer on a water tank that is in service which has had consistent water quality issues due to recurrent nitrification.
The e-CHEM prototype was deployed operationally on critical client infrastructure (distribution tank having recurrent nitrification issues), and has been in operation ever since (7 months), thus proving its suitability for real-world operation. It provided, autonomously and wirelessly, high-frequency data that was previously difficult, costly, or impossible to assess in order to monitor water quality degradation in drinking water distribution systems. As validated during the pilot study, the e-CHEM was able to accurately detect all of the nitrification events happening in the network, often more than one week prior to the client laboratory being able to confirm the same event through manual grab sampling, and to deploy personnel and equipment to treat the tank. The e-CHEM pilot test has proven to be a useful operational tool to water utilities faced with water quality issues such as nitrification or heavy metal leaching, especially in places where remote distribution locations and complex infrastructure requiring multi-parameter water chemistry analyzers that can operate and generate data and automatic alerts.
The World Health Organization has recognized water chemical safety risk management as essential for ensuring public health globally, along with microbiological water quality controls. By enabling a simple and effective drinking water monitoring solution for early detection of nitrification and other quality degradation phenomena, e-CHEM has an immediate impact on public health. By providing chemical water quality measurements with high temporal resolution, and issuing automatic early alerts when quality degrades, it can inform water utilities and end-users early-on about problems in the drinking water quality or in the distribution infrastructure. As a direct consequence, the duration of reduced tap water quality episodes can be drastically shortened, leading to less potential exposure; more drastic measures, such as issuing pubic advisories against using drinking water, can be imposed as soon as quality degrades to a level where public health becomes a concern. Furthermore, through in-line quality monitoring with e-CHEM, the use of drinking water after an event has been remediated can be resumed almost immediately, thus limiting impact and cost of discontinued water supply.
Last Modified: 03/23/2019
Modified by: Joyce Wong
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