In addition to their best-in-class performance for air quality monitoring, AROMA instruments excel in detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCS) in water systems. These capabilities are giving Entanglement Technologies new opportunities in water quality analysis through collaboration on grant funded research with leaders in the field and participation in several major international water conferences this year.
Water scarcity is an increasing problem. Potable water reuse is becoming a necessary framework to address climate change, drought, and growing populations, but it requires effective treatment technologies and stringent monitoring for chemical and biological constituents of concern.
To meet this need, Entanglement Technologies joined principal investigator Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), as well as Hach Company, Colorado School of Mines and Orange County Water District (OCWD), as recipients of a grant from the Water Research Foundation (WRF) last year. This work is using AROMA as a real-time analyzer to detect specific VOCs at low detection limits (ppb/ppt) prior to and after wastewater treatment processes such as reverse-osmosis (RO) (Project #5210). The project is entering its third and final phase in which it will be installed at OCWD’s Groundwater Replenishment System to verify the analyzers long-term performance at full-scale, capturing actual and reoccurring spikes for several months.
In March, several of the WRF project team members, including Director of Sales and Business Development, Dr. Aurelie Marcotte, attended the 2024 WateReuse Symposium in Denver, CO. Dr. Marcotte presented a poster highlighting the analytical method developed for the WRF Project #5210, using an AROMA analyzer. Dr. Eric Dickenson from SNWA also had a platform presentation showing some preliminary results from the project including data from the analysis of RO feed and permeate samples from participating utilities.
In June, Entanglement Technologies’ CEO, Dr. Anthony Miller, will be attending Singapore International Water Week. Dr. Miller will be speaking about Entanglement Technologies’ AROMA analyzer for online analysis of VOCs in water streams at the TechXchange on June 18th. On June 21st, Dr. Dickenson will be presenting on an WRF project, which includes data from a side-by-side study of AROMA measurements with third-party laboratory analysis, as well as RO-rejection of target VOCs.
Learn more about AROMA analyzers for water analysis or contact us to talk about a customized VOC monitoring solution to meet the needs of your project.
Growing up on the southeastern coast of China, Da Pan did not see severe air pollution until he was an undergraduate student in Beijing at Peking University. At the time, the air quality in Beijing was poor and inspired Pan to pursue atmospheric science.
Pan would go on to attend graduate school work in the United States at Princeton University. Working in an environmental engineering lab developing sensors for better measuring air pollution, he would return to China to study the air quality there. Now a research scientist in the Collett lab at Colorado State University, Pan is pioneering the use of multiple mobile sensors in characterizing the emissions from unconventional oil and gas development in Colorado. Part of a project with the Health Effects Institute, his team has several high-tech tools on their side, including AROMA-VOC.
We spoke with Pan about his early work in mobile monitoring in China, his work with AROMA in Colorado now, and what he sees as the future of air quality sensors.
ET: Tell us a bit about your early mobile montining work that took you back to China.
Pan: After I joined the environmental engineering group at Princeton, one of the things I did was bring our air quality sensor to China to measure methane emissions from natural gas vehicles. It was 2014, and we saw these huge plumes on the streets, and we didn’t know where they were coming from; the emissions were 16 times higher for passenger vehicles than what we saw in the US and Europe. The buses there said they were using “green energy” with natural gas. We measured methane there of about 10 ppm, against a background level around 2 ppm. That’s how I got started with mobile measurements.
It’s important because methane is a really potent greenhouse gas. So, switching from conventional vehicles to natural gas without controlling methane emissions is actually pretty bad for the climate.
ET: But doesn’t natural gas emit less carbon dioxide, which is a good thing?
Pan: It’s complicated because it comes down to whether you can prevent methane leaking from natural gas. Natural gas does emit about 10 to 20% less CO₂, which is good. And it emits lower SO₂ and NOx, which are precursors for PM2.5 and ozone. So in that sense, if everything goes perfectly and you can control methane leakage and remove methane from the exhaust, then it is better for the climate and for air quality; that is why in China, the central government was pushing for wider adoption of natural gas.
What we found was that because of a certain type of engine they were using in China that was better for fuel economy, the exhaust control system was not working as it should. Lots of methane was not being removed from the exhaust, with around 2% leakage. There are technologies that solve this, and in our paper [published in Nature Communications], we made some recommendations, including for new emissions standards. If there were a strictly implemented new emission standard, it would save emissions equivalent to about 12 million gasoline vehicles from China. So, that’s a huge amount of greenhouse gas that we can reduce just by implementing a strict emission standard.
The project with the Health Effects Institute-Energy is jointly funded by EPA, local agencies, and also industrial partners, to figure out what process is actually contributing to the air toxics from different drilling operations, looking at the full lifecycle of a well pad. … Currently, there is no such knowledge on what’s being emitted and by what processes.
ET: Now you are working to understand emissions from oil and gas development in Colorado… Why is that important?
Pan: Now that the US is doing unconventional oil and gas development, the technology is different and comes with different risks for emissions. It can take longer to drill and is in new locations, often in residential, community spaces. People are concerned about air toxics emitted from well pads. And the oil and gas operators are also concerned, as they want to be able to continue to drill while complying with current and expected regulations. The project with the Health Effects Institute-Energy is jointly funded by EPA, local agencies, and also industrial partners, to figure out what process is actually contributing to the air toxics from different drilling operations, looking at the full lifecycle of a well pad. This will allow local agencies and the operators to use best practices to limit toxic emissions. Currently, there is no such knowledge on what’s being emitted and by what processes.
The first phase is to measure the emissions. The next stage for this project is to develop a model for the emissions that government agencies and operators can use to basically estimate how much they are emitting. Eventually, this information will be made publicly available.
ET: What kinds of sensors are you using for this work?
Pan: We have a mobile lab (pictured above), which is a SUV outfitted with: GPS, to know where the plume is coming from; a sonic anemometer, to measure wind; an photoionization detector (PID); and AROMA. The PID is sensitive to multiple species but does not give out speciated results, only total VOC amounts. It cannot give you a benzene concentration, for example, so it’s very different from AROMA-VOC. So we use the PID to see where the plume is and AROMA to give us the detailed aromatics data. We also have a LI-COR sensor for measuring CO2 and methane, and we have canisters that we use to collect air samples when plumes are detected, which we then analyze back in our lab with gas chromatography. We use multiple sensors to take advantage of their unique characteristics.
ET: How do the AROMA results compare to the in-lab analysis you do from the canisters?
Pan: We’ve done several comparisons, and so far, it looks like AROMA is doing a pretty good job. For example (see figure above), we looked at emissions from a well pad that’s been drilled and we wanted to see the resulting emissions. We drove around and could see the plume via the PID, then we stopped and collected the air for analysis in canisters, while AROMA was measuring. We looked at methane, alkanes, and aromatics. In the graph above, the red stars are what we see from the canister, which matched what we see from AROMA.
People will come up to us and ask what we’re doing, because the mobile lab looks like something out of “Ghostbusters,” or they think it’s a Google street car.
ET: How have the local communities in Colorado been responding to this work and your mobile lab?
Pan: People will come up to us and ask what we’re doing, because the mobile lab looks like something out of “Ghostbusters,” or they think it’s a Google street car. We tell them we were here to monitor a well pad, and then they will often wonder if there’s bad stuff being emitted because sometimes they smell something. But one thing that people often don’t realize is sometimes when you smell something, it doesn’t mean it’s bad for your house. But sometimes when you don’t smell something, there could be invisible toxics present, like benzene. So we try to explain that we are using fancy sensors to measure what’s really happening and try to prevent anything bad from being emitted in the future. We get mixed feedback, as some people are more supportive of development in the area than others. We also share some concerns we receive with local agencies.
ET: Now that you have been working on air quality sensors for about a decade, what trends have you seen in the field?
Pan: Increasingly, scientists and industries are transitioning from laboratory-based technology to more portable instruments. For example, before AROMA, we would use GC [gas chromatographs], but those are pretty heavy and require a trailer that can be hard to maintain and operate in the field. Also, the power consumption is probably 100 times higher than AROMA. So, we and others are moving toward field-based sensors that are more portable and can be powered by battery easily.
The other trend is toward optical-based sensors, which relates to power consumption and portability, but is also much less expensive. Things are definitely improving quite a lot compared to 10 years ago.
ET: What do you see as the future in this technology space?
Pan: I’m really interested in combining mobile sensors with UAVs. Right now, we have to check weather conditions before measuring a plume and the plume needs to be low to the ground to see it, as we can only see 2 meters above ground. But if we can put a sensor on a UAV, we could then sense what’s in the air and potentially follow the plume. It might be possible to put up a reflector that will direct the laser beam from lasers similar to the ones in the AROMA to be able to measure the column concentrations of VOCs. That’s something I think would be really exciting in the future. Even though we are in the early phases with drone technology, I think there are a lot of possibilities.
For more information, please contact us.
The U.S. EPA is using a state-of-the-art tool to detect levels of pollutants that may affect the health of residents in the United States: the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) Air Quality Assessment Division has acquired an AROMA instrument to monitor benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene(s) (BTEX), ethylene oxide (EtO), and other VOCs. This is the EPA’s third acquisition of an analyzer from Entanglement Technologies in the past two years.
The Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards operates under the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation and is dedicated to preserving and enhancing air quality in the United States. Its core responsibilities include setting and periodically reviewing national emission standards, which govern the amount of air toxics released from stationary sources. Additionally, OAQPS collaborates with state and local air agencies to monitor and control air pollution, including air toxics.
In the United States, a growing focus has been on monitoring hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), driven primarily by concerns about potential health risks linked to exposure. One challenge in monitoring HAPs such as EtO lies in the ability to detect at exceedingly low concentrations. Accurate and highly sensitive monitoring equipment is crucial for identifying HAPs at levels safe for human exposure, which is where the AROMA technology platform excels.
At Entanglement Technologies, we’ve built the next generation of high accuracy, real-time chemical analyzers designed to deliver unparalleled performance. AROMA provides parts-per-trillion detection limits of HAPs in ambient air and other complex matrices in the field or from any vehicle. AROMA instruments have undergone extensive testing and validation during real-world deployments in challenging atmospheric conditions, consistently providing high-quality data equivalent to that obtained in a laboratory setting.
We are excited about extending our partnership with the U.S. EPA and supporting their efforts to successfully identify and address current, emerging, and future air toxics issues in the U.S.
Connect with us to discuss your ambient air monitoring applications and how we can best support you.
Join us at the 2023 AWMA Air Quality Measurement Methods and Technology conference in Durham, NC from November 14 – 16th, 2023. Our Director of Sales and Business Development, Aurelie Marcotte, will be delivering two insightful presentations about our AROMA analyzers:
Entanglement Technologies will also be exhibiting at Booth #16. Please stop by throughout the conference to connect with our Inside Sales Specialist, Pedro Benavides, and Applications Scientist, Jake Margolis, to discuss your ambient air monitoring applications and learn about our high-performance VOC chemical analyzers.
Interested in scheduling some time to speak directly with our team at or outside of the conference? Contact us.
We look forward to seeing you at the conference and exploring ways to support your air quality monitoring initiatives!
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is partnering with Entanglement Technologies to monitor benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene(s) (BTEX), ethylene oxide, and other VOCs with AROMA. Awarded the American Rescue Plan Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring Competitive Grant, Utah DEQ will integrate and deploy AROMA in underserved communities through mobile monitoring and community partnerships with a goal to enhance VOC monitoring and to promote air quality monitoring partnerships between communities and regulatory agencies.
The American Rescue Plan was passed by Congress in spring 2021, providing EPA with a one-time supplemental appropriation of $100M to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. $20M of those funds was allocated for a grant competition for community air pollution monitoring. In August 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided additional funding to EPA for community air monitoring programs and grants allowing EPA to expand the initial award to $53.4 million to support 132 projects. Read more about the selected projects here: https://www.epa.gov/arp/selections-arp-enhanced-air-quality-monitoring-competitive-grant.
AROMA is ideally suited for mobile air quality monitoring with real-time monitoring, reporting, and part-per-trillion detection limits. The AROMA is easily transitioned from a stationary monitoring site to running in a vehicle in less than 30 minutes with no specific buildout requirements. Contact us to learn more about AROMA or to discuss your mobile monitoring and ambient air monitoring applications.
AROMA instruments are shipping across the United States, filling critical air quality monitoring needs. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) are the latest state agencies to add AROMA-TOX to their arsenal.
The Maine DEP Bureau of Air Quality (BAQ) will be using AROMA-TOX trace chemical analyzer for monitoring benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene(s) (BTEX), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and other relevant volatile organic compounds (VOCs), with an in initial focus on hydrogen sulfide (H2S). AROMA will also be used to support monitoring for the Maine CDC Ambient Air Guidelines (AAGs).
Responsible for most of the ambient air quality monitors located in Maine, the Maine DEP BAQ has been monitoring air quality in Maine since its establishment in 1972. Maine DEP will integrate and deploy Entanglement Technologies’ AROMA-TOX as part of their air monitoring network.
In Colorado, CDPHE is acquiring two AROMA-TOX units, which have the capability to measure BTEX, H2S, HCN, ethylene oxide (EtO) and other VOCs as part of their growing Air Toxics and Ozone Precursor Section. This is the second AROMA acquisition from CDPHE: The Air Pollution Control Division has been using an AROMA-VOC analyzer that is deployed in their CAMML (Colorado Air Monitoring Mobile Laboratory) for monitoring near oil and gas operations.
Entanglement Technologies’ AROMA-TOX is a thermal desorption, cavity ring-down spectroscopy analyzer with the broadest compound coverage in the AROMA family. Equipped with an innovative dual-laser system design, it measures methane, water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, H2S, HCN and other small molecules at part-per-billion concentrations in real time. AROMA-TOX also provides parts-per-trillion level speciated VOC data in the field in a short analysis method.
Entanglement Technologies is excited to support Maine DEP and CDPHE in their efforts to identify and control hazardous air pollutant emissions, as part of our commitment to helping organizations manage their environmental obligations. Reach out to us to discuss your application needs and to learn more about our AROMA instrument suite.
Coming soon to an environmental monitoring conference near you: Entanglement Technologies will be exhibiting and showcasing the AROMA instruments, high-performance chemical analyzers that enable the collection of accurate chemical data in the field. Come visit us at one of the following conferences this summer and fall to talk with Director of Sales and Business Development Aurelie Marcotte, and Inside Sales Specialist Pedro Benavides about how AROMA can meet your current and future environmental monitoring needs.
July 25-27, 2023 Durham, NC
Air Sensors Quality Assurance Workshop
Exhibiting at Booth #2.
July 31-August 3 2023 Minneapolis, MN
2023 Environmental Measurement Symposium (EMS)
Exhibiting at table #29.
Presenting on Monday July 31st at 1:30PM: Aurelie Marcotte, an experienced atmospheric chemist and analytical instrumentation specialist, will present “Real-Time VOC Measurements in Ambient Air Using Thermal Desorption, Broadband Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy”.
Additionally, join us on Tuesday, August 1st at 3:30PM, for the New Technology Showcase to learn more about our technology and applications.
November 14-16 2023 Durham, NC
Air Quality Measurement Methods and Technology Conference
Exhibiting at Booth #16Platform Presentations include “Review of Ethylene Oxide Monitoring and Measurements with AROMA-ETO” and “Utilization of Broadband Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy for Mobile Leak Detection in the Port of Rotterdam”
Entanglement Technologies has become a member of the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) to further explore AROMA-technology-led solutions for process monitoring in biomanufacturing. NIIMBL is a public-private consortium composed of more than 200 members and federal stakeholder agencies across a diverse set of groups, including large and small companies, research institutions, community colleges, non-profit organizations, and government. Their mission is to “accelerate biopharmaceutical innovation, support the development of standards that enable more efficient and rapid manufacturing capabilities, and educate and train a world-leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing workforce, fundamentally advancing U.S. competitiveness in the industry.”
Entanglement Technologies will be presenting a poster at the NIIMBL 2023 National Meeting June 27 – 29th in Washington D.C. The work is in collaboration with the North Carolina Biotechnology Training and Education Center (NC BTEC) to monitor methanol and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in bioreactor headspace during a Pichia pastoris fermentation process.
If you are interested in how AROMA can meet your VOC monitoring needs, please contact Aurelie Marcotte.
Learn more about NIIMBL on its website.
Four years after chemical fires sent chemicals billowing for weeks in a Houston-area community, regulators are still reflecting on how to mitigate the effects of such accidents in the future. In a new 2-part series, the Texas Tribune documents the events leading up to the fires and in the aftermath, exposing gaps in air monitoring efforts and highlighting the significant health and environmental impacts of such events.
Shortly after the ITC fires in March 2019, Entanglement Technologies was on the ground in Deer Park, Texas, with the Environmental Defense Fund, monitoring benzene and other hazardous chemicals with our AROMA platform. Using AROMA-VOC, the Entanglement team detected elevated levels of benzene days after the fires were extinguished, as far as 12 miles downwind of the ITC facility. The second part of the new Texas Tribute series details the immediate, and potential long-term, effects of these benzene levels on local residents, underscoring the need for high-quality data collection and dissemination.
The Tribune articles highlight that the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board should be issuing their final report on the 2019 ITC Terminal Fire later this year, and some Houston-area residents are suing ITC. In the years following the fire, Harris County Pollution Control Services unveiled a new mobile monitoring unit called the rapid ambient air monitoring (RAAM) and acquired their own AROMA analyzer to rapidly respond to air quality concerns in the wake of future industrial accidents. In 2022, community groups in Houston and the City of Houston Health Department were also selected to receive funds from an EPA grant to conduct air monitoring of hazardous air pollutants such as 1,3-butadiene, acrolein, and ethylene oxide.
The events surrounding the ITC chemical fires are powerful reminders of the importance of air quality monitoring both in industrial settings and to the broader surrounding communities.
To learn more about how Entanglement Technologies’ AROMA platform can enhance rapid response air and water capabilities, please contact us.
From London, England, to Panama City Beach, FL, Entanglement Technologies will be showcasing its novel platform for measuring contaminants of emerging concern at various conferences this spring. Our Director of Sales and Business Development Dr. Aurelie Marcotte will lead efforts to attend, present, and exhibit at conferences this year, including the Institution of Environmental Sciences Measuring Air Quality Conference in London (March 28, 2023) and the 44th Annual Stationary Source Sampling and Analysis for Air Pollutants (SSSAAP) conference in Panama City Beach (April 2, 2023).
Dr. Marcotte will be highlighting our development efforts to measure contaminants of emerging concern such as ethylene oxide (EtO) and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in ambient air. Sensitive and accurate measurements of EtO and fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) are challenging to make in the lab by traditional techniques such as GC-MS. Entanglement Technologies’ AROMA analyzers meet or exceed the capabilities of laboratory equipment and can be deployed in the field for long-term stationary monitoring or can turn any vehicle into a mobile lab.
We look forward to sharing our recent developments and connecting with air quality professionals in the U.S. and internationally. Feel free to contact us if you are attending either conference and are interested in speaking with Dr. Marcotte.