Rapid Analysis of Metal-laden Water via Portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry.

Description:

Water salinity is vital to environmental quality assurance, environmental health, and human health. Soil and water salinity are naturally linked on slurries or saturated pastes whereby salts precipitated in soil dissolve into solution. Currently, this type of salinity analysis is conducted by using electrical conductance. Salts in soil and water are normally not detectable without laboratory analysis. Therefore, there is a need for a more convenient and better way to test water for these salt elements. Recently, portable X-ray Fluorescence (PXRF) spectrometry had rapidly developed so that tests for multi-elemental data can be conducted in the field easily with limited sample preparation; however, it has only been developed for the evaluation of soil and sediments. Few studies have been conducted to use PXRF on wastewater but none showed significant results.

This technology is an improvement upon the PXRF advancements because it targets water samples for elemental determination instead of soil. The technology can predict various elements in water at different concentrations at comparable accuracy to standard analyses like ICP. This technology can be used for on-site screening of water quality with precision exceeding that of colorimetry, absorptiometry, and other field based tests.

Reference Number: D-1431 & D-1444

Market Applications:

• Environmental Quality Assurance

• Environmental Remediation

Features, Benefits, & Advantages:

• Conducts analysis on site and within minutes

• Checks for salinity in water sampes

• Allows water samples to be tested for its elemental composition

Intellectual Property: A US provisional patent, serial number 62575498, was filed on 11/22/17.

Development Stage: The technology has been developed and tested.

Researchers:

•David C. Weindorf, Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas