New Site Characterization and Monitoring Technologies

Abstract

The cost of characterizing and monitoring U.S. government hazardous waste sites could exceed $100 billion utilizing traditional methods and technology. New sensor technologies are being developed to meet the nation's environmental remediation and compliance programs. A consortia consisting of the CRDA partners, Dakota Technologies Inc., and NDSU submitted a proposal to the Advanced Research Projects Agency, Technology Reinvestment Project and won an award to fund the commercialization. The result, Rapid Optical Screening Tool or ROST is a state-of the-art laser spectroscopy system for analysis of aromatic hydrocarbon-contaminated soil and groundwater. With ROST, environmental investigators are able to find, classify, and map the distribution of many hazardous chemicals in the field instead of waiting for reports to come back from the analytical laboratory. The research and development program leading to prototype laser spectrometers is summarized along with results from laboratory and field demonstrations illustrating system performance and benefits for site characterization. The technology has recently been demonstrated in Germany, the Netherlands, and several sites in the United Kingdom having light, medium, and heavy aromatic hydrocarbon contamination from fuel spills and refinery or chemical plant operations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 14, 1995
Accession Number
ADA350744

Entities

People

  • Bruce J. Nielsen
  • David A. Bohne
  • Greg Gillispie

Organizations

  • Armstrong Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aromatic Compounds
  • Aromatic Hydrocarbons
  • Contamination
  • Cyclic Hydrocarbons
  • Department Of Defense
  • Detection
  • Environmental Restoration And Remediation
  • Groundwater
  • Hazardous Waste
  • Hydrocarbons
  • Industrial Plants
  • Laser Applications
  • Laser Induced Fluorescence
  • Laser Spectroscopy
  • Lasers
  • Monitoring
  • Organic Compounds

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Environmental Remediation and Restoration.
  • Groundwater Contamination Remediation.
  • Research Science/Academic Research

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy