Fast and Accurate
Ecosystems around the world are facing growing threats. The increasing pace of industrialization, pressure from growing populations and increasing urbanization, as well as climate changes can wreak havoc on emerging economies and have health and social implications. Not surprisingly, researchers, scientists and governments are investing significant resources to monitoring and preventing these environmental hazards.
Spectroscopy is a technique that is very well suited for various environmental applications. Recently, there has been an increase in the need to identify and trace chemical contaminants, especially organic compounds, as they have negative impact on the environment.
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Learn more about spectroscopy applications in the environment.
Contamination Monitoring
The monitoring of contaminants in ground water, air, soil and in products is of particular concern because of the difficulty of real-time, in-situ analysis that not only indicates the presence of, but can quickly quantitate and identify contaminants as well.
Fluorescence measurements are a typical choice for detecting the presence of hydrocarbon pollutants, while Raman spectroscopy might be used to identify organic contaminants. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and fluorescence measurements are both used in processing nuclear material, and we see absorbance spectroscopy used in water quality monitoring of coastal waterways.
The AvaSpec-ULS2048CL-EVO is well suited for most standard environmental applications, including but not limited to fluorescence measurements.
Recycling
Recycling has become an important subject in today’s society due to the impact of waste on our environment and the loss of valuable recources. In the past, sorting of recyclable materials (e.g. paper, plastics and textiles) was mainly done by hand. Nowadays, the use of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has become a standard in the recycling industry.
One of the most difficult materials to classify in a recycling waste stream is plastic. Reflection measurments employing near-infrared spectroscopy enable the classification of many of the most common polymers present in recycling waste streams.
Modern large-scale recycling sorting systems are using NIR spectroscopy to rapidly and automatically identify different plastics and eliminate contaminants. The AvaSpec-Mini-NIR is well suited for this environmental application because of its versatility in the 900-1750 nm range. Due to its small form factor, this miniature spectrometer can easily be integrated into different recycling systems.
Pollution Monitoring
As the developing world has continued to industrialize in its transition into modernity, the demand for energy is skyrocketing, particularly in places like China and India. While cleaner technologies are meeting some of the worldwide markets, roughly 40% of the electricity generated around the world is from coal-burning power plants; in countries such as China and India, this is as high as 70 to 75%. As a result, environmental monitoring systems are just as relevant today as they have ever been.
Spectroscopy can be utilized for environmental monitoring in the forms of differential absoption spectroscopy (DOAS) and continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS). Our AvaSpec-ULS2048x64-EVO and AvaSpec-ULS2048XL-EVO are great candidates to use for these applications.
Why Avantes for your environmental application?
- Real-time process monitoring
- Ultra-low stray light design to ensure accurate measurements
- Precise timing controls over instruments to ensure repeatable measurement procedures
- Stable equipment to measure over long periods of time
Related Products
These are some of the products mentioned in the application examples above. To find the perfect setup for your specific application, contact one of our sales engineers for advice.
Application Examples
Below are some detailed application notes on various uses of spectroscopy in the environmental industry.