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Title: Mass Analyzer for Liquid Phase Selenium

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:1491589

The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking instrumentation for on-line, real-time monitoring of liquid phase selenium in wastewaters generated by coal power plants because of its toxicity and negative impact on the environment. To address this need, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposed and, in Phase I, explored and worked towards demonstrating the feasibility of a novel Mass Analyzer for Liquid Phase Selenium (MALPS) system capable of providing chemical analysis of gases and liquid samples in a compact field-portable device. Specifically, we demonstrated the feasibility through positive identification of gases and aerosols ionized by a corona discharging and transport through a custom vacuum system for use in a mass spectrometer device. As a result, we envision MALPS, with additional developments, fulfilling the need for a portable field application for on-line, real-time monitoring of liquid phase selenium in wastewaters generated by coal power plants because of its toxicity and negative impact on the environment. Currently, laboratory analysis is used to provide the highest quality data possible; however, the measurements are costly to obtain and require intensive sample preparation and analysis time. MALPS will eliminate this limitation and be sought for in situ monitoring of liquid phase selenium and other chemicals over a wide range of concentrations.

Research Organization:
Physical Optics Corporation
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
SC0018610
OSTI ID:
1491589
Type / Phase:
SBIR (Phase I)
Report Number(s):
DOE-POC-0018610; 10160
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English