Mobile field laboratory

TLC is a relatively simple and cheap analytical method, although increasingly elaborate devices are used in it, and it is a fiiUy instrumental method. High selectivity, good detectability of analytes, and reliability of the analysis, even if a relatively simple equipment is used, make the method applicable not only for stationary laboratories, but also for mobile field laboratories. 

EDXRF systems are available as stationary systems, to be used for fast simultaneous multielement determinations in analytical laboratories, as compact equipment suitable for mobile field laboratories and as hand-held probes to be used directly on-site for screening analyses. The dimensions of the equipment range from several hundred kg for stationary systems... 

Possibility to organise a mobile microscopy laboratory and carry out measurements in field conditions... 

Planning documents preparation —Laboratory procurement —Field and sampling equipment procurement —Preparation for mobilization —Field sampling —Field and laboratory audits —Sampling and laboratory oversight —Data evaluation —Data quality assessment... 

There are two general approaches to sampling air, or vaporous emissions from stationary (stack) and mobile (automobile, truck, etc.) sources, for the laboratory determination of volatile analytes.1 Bulk vapor-phase samples can be taken in the field in various containers and transported to a remote or field laboratory for analysis. Containers used for bulk vapor-phase samples include flexible polyvinyl fluoride (Tedlar ) bags, evacuated glass or metal reservoirs, and thermally insulated cryogenic collection vessels. Alternatively, the volatile analytes can be separated from the main components of air in the field and just the analytes and their collection devices transported to the laboratory. The principal techniques used to separate volatile analytes from air in the field are cryogenic traps, impingers, and solid-phase adsorbents. 

Whether the samples will be analyzed in a remote or a field laboratory or with laboratory, mobile, or portable instrumentation... 

Over the past 15 years, the atmospheric science community has developed a series of mobile platforms with highly accurate and specific fast response instrumentation that have revolutionized atmospheric chemistry field measurements. These include high-altitude aircraft, such as NASA s ER-2 and WB-57, and lower-altitude aircraft like the NASA DC-8, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) (Naval Postgraduate School) Twin Otters, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) C-130, and the DOE Gl. In addition, mobile surface laboratories are now being used for a wide variety of urban and regional air quality and emission source characterization studies.4 Typical configurations for the ER-2 and the mobile laboratory are shown in Figures 1 and 2. 

Chemical analyses can be condncted in a laboratory remote from the locations where the samples are taken or in the field near the sampling sites (on-site). On-site analyses can be conducted in a field laboratory, which may be a temporary building or a track trailer, van, or recreational vehicle equipped with utilities services and analytical equipment. Another type of field laboratory is within a materials or fluids processing facility. Alternatively, field artalyses can be conducted with mobile or portable instrumerrtation carried in a small van, sport utility vehicle, moved with a hand cart, or carried by a person. Each of these strategies has some advantages and some disadvantages. 

The analytical methods that ate feasible in the field may be significantly limited compared to what is feasible in a remote permanent laboratoiy. If a field laboratory is located in a temporary building or a large truck trailer, and adequate utihties and persormel are available, many of the kinds of analytical methods that are routinely implemented in a remote laboratory may be feasible in the field. However, because of space and power limitations, a broad variety of instrumentation is usually not available, and the nirmber of different analytical methods that can be implemented is smaller than in a remote permanent laboratoiy. Mobile or portable instrumentation is usually more Um-ited, and generally sample analyses are less complete and detailed than in a field or remote laboratoiy. 

The HILL-SCAN 30XX boards can be used in different PCs. Desktop- and tower-PCs as well suited for laboratory uses. For in-field inspections rugged notebooks and portable PCs are advantageous. A typical portable system is shown in Fig. 2 (USPC 3010), used in MUSE (Mobile Ultrasonic Equipment). This portable PC not only contains the boards for ultrasonic testing but also a controller with power supply for stepper motors, so that a manipulator can be connected directly. The MUSE system is enlarged with a water circulation system which enables a local immersion technique" for in-field inspections. A typical result is shown in Fig. 3, which presents a D-scan of a CFRP- component in RTM-techniques. The defect area caused by an impact is clearly indicated. The manipulator is described in [3]. 

The effect known either as electroosmosis or electroendosmosis is a complement to that of electrophoresis. In the latter case, when a field F is applied, the surface or particle is mobile and moves relative to the solvent, which is fixed (in laboratory coordinates). If, however, the surface is fixed, it is the mobile diffuse layer that moves under an applied field, carrying solution with it. If one has a tube of radius r whose walls possess a certain potential and charge density, then Eqs. V-35 and V-36 again apply, with v now being the velocity of the diffuse layer. For water at 25°C, a field of about 1500 V/cm is needed to produce a velocity of 1 cm/sec if f is 100 mV (see Problem V-14). 

Research into the aquatic chemistry of plutonium has produced information showing how this radioelement is mobilized and transported in the environment. Field studies revealed that the sorption of plutonium onto sediments is an equilibrium process which influences the concentration in natural waters. This equilibrium process is modified by the oxidation state of the soluble plutonium and by the presence of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Higher concentrations of fallout plutonium in natural waters are associated with higher DOC. Laboratory experiments confirm the correlation. In waters low in DOC oxidized plutonium, Pu(V), is the dominant oxidation state while reduced plutonium, Pu(III+IV), is more prevalent where high concentrations of DOC exist. Laboratory and field experiments have provided some information on the possible chemical processes which lead to changes in the oxidation state of plutonium and to its complexation by natural ligands. 

Studies conducted in the laboratory provide fundamental data on processes by which a pesticide is degraded and on its mobility. In combination with field observations, which integrate multiple processes, these data describe a pesticide s environmental fate. This section provides a discussion of several important specific analytical issues which should be considered in the design of environmental fate studies to ensure that the data generated address the needs of scientists and regulatory agencies for information on the environmental fate and environmental and ecological impacts of a pesticide to the fullest extent. 

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