H2OAlliance Nano Working Group
This working group is an independent New-Tech Business Forum focusing on Nanotechnology. We invite you to join us.
Benefits
Monitoring water quality is vital. Organisms such as cyan bacteria for instance are activated in the spring season when sun rays gets through the ice and the oxidation level is down in water bodies. Their levels of activity also depend on the amount of light. The problem is that certain cyan bacteria form CyanoHABs (Harmful Algal Blooms) which generate extremely potent toxins that have no known antidotes. Such situations have brought in the need for real-time water quality monitoring systems. Accurate electro-chemical methods are being employed to enable water disinfection effectiveness and lower chemical consumption through water.
We specialize in nanosensors that are gaining prominence in early detection sensing applications owing to their benefits such as fast real-time performance, ability to design more compact systems and so on. Our working group use nanosensors and integrated management platforms for water quality monitoring and measuring to detect both organic and non-organic contamination to as low as a few parts per million. The benefit is that this technology eliminates the need to use expensive lab based testing techniques such as spectrophotometry or chromatography.
Our water quality monitoring systems are unique. They provide customized detection using up to nineteen nanosensors simultaneously to keep tabs on the chemistry of water, liquids and slurries. The monitored data is then fed into a neural network that generates real-time analysis that users can visualize. When the sensors come into contact with the target molecules, their electrical properties undergo changes, making them suitable for monitoring water chemistry.
These measurement units are capable of detecting a variety of ions including nitrate, ammonium, fluro, chloride, sulfide, calcium, magnesium, manganese, natriumbicarbonate, ferrous, iron, aluminum, copper, barium, chromium, lead, arsenic, boron, cadmium etc. Salts including hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, ammonium bromide, Fe3+ salts and Al-salts can also be detected. Organisms such as microbial reducing bacteria and Cyanobacteria along with toxic compounds such as hydrogen sulfide, arsenic and cyanide compounds can be monitored.
The benefits of our solutions include early detection and conservation of water, energy, raw materials, chemicals and labor during production along with instantaneous reporting of anomalies detected by the sensors. These nanosensor and water management platform solutions cater to the overall improvement of an industrial process and environmental monitoring by providing detection, monitoring, measuring, analysis, collection, refining, and delivery of real-time data on changes in water chemistry. An added benefit is that the sensors can be integrated within ICT systems that are part of the industry's communications network in order to rapidly communicate changes in the water, liquid and slurry used to people or other devices. This technology is being applied across a range of industries and environments.
One of the main applications is early detection and warning systems. These mobile units and platforms are robust and require low maintenance. Owing to these properties the technology is suited for harsh conditions that accompany industries such as mining and minerals, and paper pulp.
For instance the deployment of a real-time fluid monitoring in the pharmaceutical industry has helped in complying with the stringent regulatory and operating constraints. The core technology is adapted to serve this industry through our Pharma measurement system that provides water monitoring for pharmaceutical processes. Other applications where this technology can be used include surface and ground water quality monitoring. In one instance it was found that decreasing bacteria activity in ground water caused a decrease in water quality and bottled water problems. Similarly the technology can be used in tunnel water quality monitoring, flotation water quality monitoring and so on. In the past decade we have identified specific water supply and water quality management challenges in both developed and developing countries and have devised solutions to address the challenges in industrial processes, environmental monitoring, drinking water distribution and health.
Multi-Electrode-Sensors
Our multi-electrode-sensor includes typically 19 electrodes, which are determined according to the specific customer solution needs.
Early warning can be obtained nearly always by measuring potentials of different electrodes together with pH-measurements and conductance measurements at certain temperature after some preliminary studies for different cases.
We can customize nanosensors to be used normally as reference state for electrochemical potential; giving indication of presence of oxidizing and reductive materials, it is sensitive for changes in purity of water; sensitivity especially for different halide (Cl, F, ....)-, S-, P-, N-, As, Se containing ; cmpounds; sensitivity for components forming sparingly soluble compounds and for components causing changes in redox potential; specially sensitive for different N and S containing compounds; for special cases (for combinations of impurities); for organic compounds as a whole, for determining chemical oxygen demand; for determining concentrations of As-, Sb-, Ge, Ni, Co etc. ions; for determining anions and negatively charged bacteria, viruses etc.; for materials influencing hydrogen over voltage; for anions; for different cations and anions and for oxygen consuming compounds; different minerals as such or modified, including sulfide-, oxide, carbide-, nitride-minerals for specific purposes depending on conditions and more important on need.
Working Groups
Climate Change
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