Development of a Portable Petroleum By-Products Chemical Sensor

This study develops nanoparticle based chemical sensors for the sensitive, selective and field portable analyses of soil samples for petroleum spill indicating hydrocarbons (such as benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzenes, xylenes, PCBs, trichloroethylene). The broader impacts of the hydrocarbon sensor research program lies in the future target applications of nanoparticle based chemical sensors. New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) spends approximately $10 million to $12 million a year on the testing of soil and groundwater samples, which do not include the New York City Department of Transportation. By moving the majority of these tests from an off-site analytical lab, to a field portable device the overall cost of construction budgets will be significantly lower and construction projects will experience fewer delays due to untimely analytical lab reports. Another example leading to a broader impact of the program is for monitoring benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylenes (BTEX) for applications in groundwater well networks or soil sample analysis. BTEX compounds are indicative of petroleum by-product contamination and currently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has regulations for performing a standardized test of groundwater and soil samples using modern analytical laboratory equipment. Off-site analytical lab testing of both groundwater and soil samples are a significant expense of environmental monitoring and cleanup operations throughout the federal and state level Superfund program. Since its inception in 1986, the New York State Superfund program alone has identified, characterized and placed a total of 1,714 sites on the Registry of inactive hazardous waste disposal sites.

• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/38605
• Corporate Authors:

  University Transportation Research Center

  City College of New York
  Marshak Hall, Suite 910, 160 Convent Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10031

  New York State Department of Transportation

  1220 Washington Avenue
  Albany, NY  United States  12232

  Department of Transportation

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Carpenter, Michael A
  • Petrukhina, Marina A
• Publication Date: 2005-3-25

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Phase 1 Report
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 43p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Chemical analysis; Costs; Groundwater; Hazardous wastes; Hydrocarbons; Laboratory tests; Monitoring; Oil spills; Petroleum; Pollutants; Sensors; Soil tests; Soils; Waste disposal; Waste products (Materials)
• Identifier Terms: New York State Department of Transportation; New York State Superfund
• Subject Areas: Finance; Geotechnology; Highways; I42: Soil Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01000545
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: C-02-08
• Contract Numbers: 55657-06-15
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jun 2 2005 10:32AM