Acquisition of Laser Diffraction Particle Sizing System for Research and Research Education on Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Boundary Layer Processes and Materials
Abstract
PUBLICLY RELEASEABLE PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This proposal is to enhance both education and research in multiple areas of DoD interest through purchase of a Malvern-Panalytical Mastersizer 3000 Laser Diffraction Particle Sizer system, which accurately and quickly measures the size of materials in air and water. The machine will replace a Mastersizer 2000, which is no longer supported by the manufacturer and for which spare parts are no longer made. The PIs will continue to provide research-related education at the University of Texas- El Paso (UTEP) and elsewhere to undergraduate and graduate students, most of them from groups underrepresented in STEM, in applications of particle sizing and interpretation of particle size data to science and engineering. The Mastersizer 3000 will provide automated, rapid, calibrated, quantitative size measurement of materials from 10nm to 3.5mm. Laser particle sizers measure how laser light is diffracted when it encounters particles, in the same way that dust particles in the atmosphere make red sunsets. Small particles will diffract the light more than coarse particles, similarly to how water drops in the atmosphere create rainbows. In the Mastersizer, detectors measure how much dispersed light falls on them, and thus a distribution of particle sizes is created for each individual sample. The PIs have demonstrated productive use of their legacy Mastersizer 2000, through it producing 20 peer reviewed scientific publications, 28 student theses and dissertations and over $5 million of funded grants, including DOD (Army) grants/contracts. The PIsÕ research has combined innovative analysis of particle size with a multitude of associated disciplines that result in interpretations grounded in a variety of data. For example, their analyses of laser diffraction data coupled with other information on sediment composition has resulted in new understandings of how sand and dust is eroded and blown in arid environments. They have applied gravity and magnetic techniques, properties of moisture and water supply, wind and water flow, and terrain and geological analyses with particle size data to understand land surface changes and dust and sand storms. The large particle size datasets obtainable through laser diffraction, combined with innovative statistical analysis techniques, have allowed the PIs to map sediment types and determine how sediments are mixed on land, in water and through the lower atmosphereÕs Òboundary layer.Ó The PIsÕ record and decades of experience in the particle sizing field, as well as their continued development of new techniques of particle size data analysis, indicate funding this proposal will enhance both education and research in areas of DoD interest. In addition to in research projects, the Mastersizer 3000 will be used by both investigators in the classes they teach to undergraduate and graduate students at UTEP. They incorporate particle size analysis and particle size data interpretation in their Geology and Geography courses exploring how sediment grain size, shape and composition can be used to infer the properties of earth materials and how they change in time and space. The budget includes only the purchase of the equipment, and there will be no indirect (overhead) costs. The Arid Environments Laboratory at UTEP has all the facilities, space, supplies and materials for sample preparation required to use the requested equipment and maintain and enhance DoD related research and research-related education.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 18, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1910158
Entities
People
- Thomas E. Gill
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- University of Texas at El Paso