Procedures and Mechatronic Device for the Preparation of Chemical Contaminated Samples „on Site”

Abstract

-This paper presents the realization and testing of an automatic system prototype, with civil and military applications in the fields of security and defence, which can be used on site for testing potentially chemically contaminated samples. This equipment is designed under the principles of an integrated mechatronic device and is particularly useful for the intervention teams that have to respond to chemical and ecological incidents (accidents or terrorist attacks), as well as to the decision factors because it provides them, in a very short time, the necessary information to take urgent and informed action for the neutralization of the local factors generating the crisis (chemical war agents, toxic industrial compounds, explosives, drugs, etc.), for the protection of the personnel and the environment, for choosing the appropriate decontamination means and medical treatment. [1,2,3,4]. Taking into account the fact that in this type of interventions 'time' is very important, this system is necessary. The mechatronic equipment has been designed to process, in a short time, all kinds of samples (solid, liquid, gases or complex substances' amalgams), integrating a number of preparation techniques: SPE (Solid Phase Extraction), SPME (Solid Phase Microextraction), Head Space, adsorption on TENAX adsorbent resin tubes etc. for the sample preparation on the spot. As a result, time and resource consuming activities are spared: sample collection, packing and labelling, transport to a specialized lab, classical testing in the lab.[5] From a scientific point of view, the use of SPE, SPME, Head Space techniques in the collection and processing of samples for the identification of organic pollutants does not represent an innovation, being successfully used for over 20 years. The innovation factor is brought by the utilization of this techniques for the collection and processing of samples contaminated with highly dangerous compounds from CWAs (chemical warfare agents) class in field situations, in an automatic manner. From a technological point of view, the main innovation is comprised of the integration of these separate techniques in an unitary mechatronic system which would comprise, besides extraction cartridges with different adsorbents, a collection system with an automatic pump, electronical control gadgets, sample heating gadget, time measuring gadget. Our mechatronic equipment comes in handy in the detection and identification of interest compounds, because the existent detection equipment can only identify substances in gas form, leaving the risk of not detecting the dangerous substances with low volatility.[6] Also, in the case of instrumental mechatronic techniques of analysis and identification of the compounds of interest the previous collection of samples is necessary in order to bring them in a state compatible with the analytic instrument, laborious process, that takes a lot of time and reagents in the case ''classical methods of process in lab''.