We report on development of ammonia monitoring technology for confine animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The atmosphere within a CAFO is typically hot with high humidity and often considerable concentrations of ammonia.High levels of particulates are often also present. These conditions present a challenge to conventional ammonia monitoring technologies. Here, we discuss our recent progress on development of a fast, sensitive and robust colorimetric approach for ammonia in this challenging environment.

This project involved preliminary development of an electrochemically activated, regenerable anion-exchange system for nitrate removal from waste water. The goal was to combine desirable features of liquid-liquid extraction, e.g., fast kinetics and process simplicity, with those of anion-exchange processes using resins. At the same time, volatile organic solvents would be eliminated and replaced with a regenerative medium. We developed a liquid-liquid extraction system using a non-volatile, water insoluble room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) in place of the organic phase. Because RTILs are intrinsic electrolytes, they provide a ready method of in situ electrochemical activation and deactivation of redox-active extractants, such as ferrocenes. The redox-active extractant made nitrate recovery in a small volume possible, while avoiding consumable chemical oxidants and reductants and without generating large secondary waste streams, such as are obtained during regeneration of ion-exchange resins.

This paper reports progress toward development of a fielddeployable monitor for detecting chemical threats such as chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) by their infrared (IR) spectrochemical signature. Our work has focused on development of the chemical sensor, particularly of adsorbent media for preconcentration of low concentrations of threat vapors. We prepared and tested a wide variety of fluorinated epoxy polymer films to evaluate the effects of film properties on preconcentration, response time and stability. We also identified several inorganic adsorption layers which we found to have dramatically different interactions with the DMMP compared to the polymers.