Entanglement to Receive EPA SBIR Award to Enhance Ethylene Oxide Detection
Comments Off on Entanglement to Receive EPA SBIR Award to Enhance Ethylene Oxide DetectionNovember 4th, 2021 – Entanglement Technologies has been selected to receive a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enhance analytical capabilities to measure ethylene oxide (EtO) with AROMA-ETO. A thermal desorption, cavity ring-down spectroscopy analyzer capable of delivering single part-per-trillion detection limits of EtO and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in near-real time, AROMA-ETO is currently the most sensitive analyzer on the market for in-field assessments of EtO in ambient air. Entanglement will use the EPA SBIR award to drive key innovations to accelerate the measurement timescales for EtO, which ensures optimal spatial and temporal resolution for mobile and stationary monitoring. The deployment of current and future generations of AROMA-ETO provides policy-makers, industrial operators, and communities with critical information to reduce EtO-related health risks.
UPDATE: AROMA-VOC On the Ground at Carlsbad Caverns
Comments Off on UPDATE: AROMA-VOC On the Ground at Carlsbad CavernsAROMA-VOC is currently on the ground studying emissions from the Permian Basin in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Researchers at Colorado State University in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service are seeking to better understand how volatile organic compounds (VOCs) lead to ozone nonattainment around Carlsbad Caverns, NM. At the Caverns, AROMA-VOC is taking measurements alongside other instrumentation. It will also be deployed in a vehicle to study emissions from the Permian Basin, as well as surrounding urban and remote (background) locations to better understand local sources. The flexibility of AROMA-VOC enables long-term, unattended fixed monitoring, as well as mobile measurements from any vehicle – no build-out required.
Contact us to learn more about how AROMA can meet your research and air quality monitoring needs.
UPDATE: AROMA-VOC in Collaboration Between the University of Houston and Baylor
Comments Off on UPDATE: AROMA-VOC in Collaboration Between the University of Houston and BaylorThe University of Houston and Baylor University are adding AROMA-VOC to their mobile monitoring capabilities in the summer of 2021. A team of researchers and their students, including Dr. James Flynn from University of Houston, as well as Dr. Rebecca Sheesley and Dr. Sascha Usenko from Baylor, has been studying the air quality in Houston and El Paso, Texas over the past couple of years. Of particular interest is how different sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contribute to ozone levels in these regions. They are adding AROMA-VOC to mobile monitoring campaigns to identify and quantify sources of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene(s) (BTEX). AROMA-VOC is a flexible, real-time chemical analyzer with part-per-trillion detection limits of benzene and other VOCs.
Mobile, lab-quality hazardous air pollutant monitoring in Denver
Comments Off on Mobile, lab-quality hazardous air pollutant monitoring in DenverAROMA-VOC was recently in the Denver area, collecting mobile air quality data from a rental minivan. After the instrument was uninstalled from the Colorado Air Monitoring Mobile Laboratory (CAMML) on March 8th, Entanglement’s CEO Tony Miller and Senior Account Executive Aurelie Marcotte were able to re-install the tool and begin mobile monitoring operations within 30 minutes
AROMA-VOC collects speciated, lab-quality data on hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in the field or in a vehicle, with part-per-trillion detection limits for most compounds. Using AROMA-VOC in RapidScan mode, the instrument took real-time measurements continuously during the drive, which included passes near an oil and gas well pad, landfill, wastewater treatment plant, and oil refinery.
AROMA-VOC data chemically identified the well pad through a distinct alkane spike, and found an increased methane signature near the landfill, with both findings consistent with wind direction. The refinery had an overall elevated alkane signature with significant increases near holding vessels and fill stations.
Running AROMA-VOC in RapidScan mode provides class compound identification down to ppb levels in seconds, facilitating real-time identification and characterization of areas of interest. These areas can be then further investigated via the instrument’s LabScan mode, which is able to separate and quantify compounds down to part per trillion levels.
Contact us to learn more about how AROMA-VOC can turn any vehicle into a mobile air monitoring laboratory in less than an hour. No buildout required.
UPDATE: AROMA-VOC Onsite with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Comments Off on UPDATE: AROMA-VOC Onsite with the Colorado Department of Public Health and EnvironmentAROMA-VOC is now onsite with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for a one-month combined fixed and mobile study on oil and gas operations in the Denver area. AROMA-VOC brings unique capabilities for state and municipal air quality professionals to rapidly respond to, monitor, map, and quantify hazardous air pollutants, such as benzene and 1,3-butadiene down to part per trillion detection limits in a vehicle. The robust design of AROMA-VOC enables large geography, lab-quality assessments without requiring costly mobile laboratory buildouts or extensive training. Contact us to learn more about how AROMA can help you improve your air quality response capabilities.
DATA: Performance Validation of AROMA-VOC in 30-Day Autonomous Remote Study
Comments Off on DATA: Performance Validation of AROMA-VOC in 30-Day Autonomous Remote StudyIn a study showcasing the ability of AROMA-VOC to continuously gather high-quality data in remote locations, the instrument showed excellent agreeability with a Bay Area Air Quality Management District GC-FID over the course of 30-days. Operating completely autonomously, AROMA-VOC was configured to co-sample with the GC-FID and performed daily calibration verifications without any operator intervention. The analyzer showed no outliers or data drift during the study.
UPDATE: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to Deploy AROMA-VOC
Comments Off on UPDATE: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to Deploy AROMA-VOCThe Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is working with Entanglement Technologies to gain understanding and data on refinery emissions and their temporal and spatial variations in the Centennial State. Using AROMA-VOC, the CDPHE will be able to measure key hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) frequently used in the petrochemical industry such as BTEX and 1,3-butadiene down to part per trillion detection limits in both a long-term fixed study and a mobile, large geography assessment. The highly stable analyzer core of AROMA-VOC facilitates long-term remote deployments with fully remote instrumentation operation for the fixed monitoring portion of the campaign. The mobile monitoring campaign, using the same AROMA-VOC, will explore spatial variations of the hazardous air pollutants, and will allow the CDPHE to gather critical data over hundreds of miles on the potential exposures of these pollutants to nearby communities.
UPDATE: AROMA-TOX to Become Part of the Toolkit in Harris County, Texas
Comments Off on UPDATE: AROMA-TOX to Become Part of the Toolkit in Harris County, TexasHarris County Pollution Control Services in the Houston, Texas, area has purchased the AROMA-TOX, a high-quality real-time chemical analyzer, to provide ppt-level data in the field on some of the most hazardous chemicals frequently used in the petrochemical industry. This effort is part of significant investments Harris County is making in air quality monitoring capabilities as part of an initiative to bring real-time data to its residents during storms and disasters. In light of the substantial increase in hurricanes and tropical storms in the Gulf in 2020, Harris County Pollution Control Services has been focused on expanding its rapid response capabilities with regards to monitoring pollutants from its heavy industrial activity. These include hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) such as benzene, hydrogen sulfide, 1,3-butadiene, and hydrogen cyanide. With AROMA-TOX, Harris County Pollution Control Services will be able to effectively and rapidly deploy and respond to industrial leaks and accidents and will further increase its ability to protect the surrounding communities.
Editorial: Taking Ozone Investigations Down to Ground Level in San Antonio
Comments Off on Editorial: Taking Ozone Investigations Down to Ground Level in San AntonioThis summer has been particularly hectic for public health investigators around the world. Their diligent efforts to trace, understand, and work on containing the unprecedented global health pandemic have taken countless hours. However, while this threat still looms large, other public health threats continue to persist that require diligence and attention as well. One such major threat to urban regions is ground-level ozone, which is where the Entanglement Technologies team comes into play.
Ozone is a colorless, highly irritating gas. When in the upper atmosphere, ozone is an extremely important blanket layer which absorbs much of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. However, when ozone is present at ground-level, it damages cells in the lungs, aggravating asthma, chronic lung disease and a variety of other respiratory illnesses. It is considered a “secondary” pollutant since it is produced when two “primary” pollutants react in sunlight. The primary precursors of ground level ozone are nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Ground-level ozone has an enormous health impact. By some estimates, it will be responsible for $580 billion in increased health costs and 2 million premature deaths by 2050.
Recently, the Entanglement team spent 10 days in the field in San Antonio, Texas, in order to help the city better understand the sources of ground-level ozone’s primary precursors, NOx and VOCs. This type of data is especially useful for regulators and air-monitoring agencies of counties designated with nonattainment status by the EPA. By way of the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for criteria pollutants, one of which is ground-level ozone. Currently, ozone standards for attainment status are set at below 70 parts per billion (ppb), and the EPA has recently proposed to maintain this level through 2025.
In the case of our work in San Antonio, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District commissioned the Entanglement team and mobile lab to survey, map, and quantify ground-level ozone precursors around Bexar County, Texas – an area representative of over 1,200 square miles.
During our study, each day was spent with two members of the Entanglement team driving a route to transect the area around Bexar county, covering approximately 300 miles of terrain every day. Each trip was carefully planned in order to drive up- and down-wind of important features and installations in that day’s sub-region of Bexar county, so that we could estimate emissions from each “pie-slice” around San Antonio (see below).
By the end of our deployment, we had collected 3,000 miles worth of data that will help inform crucial public health decisions in the region for years to come.
Understanding from Sources to Measurements
Understanding the specific sources of ground-level ozone in the area could help protect and improve public health and reduce loss of life.
Unlike emergency response deployments, which are focused on hunting for narrow plumes of pollutants from individual sources, our goal for this survey was to characterize the emissions from a number of sources throughout an entire region. Using standard instrumentation, this would have been extremely difficult. Typical speciated VOC measurements require instruments such as GC-MS and GC-FIDs, which have been historically limited to in-lab operations. Recently, field GC-MS instruments have become available, but are difficult to use and acquire good data with, especially when on the move in a large survey such as this. Fortunately, large-scale, geographical studies are now possible due to development of new analytical techniques such as our AROMA, which allows speciated VOC data to be gathered in the field with minimal calibrations and method detection limits in the parts per trillion range.
Our mobile monitoring laboratory (see below), had two Entanglement AROMA-VOC instruments collecting interleaved data and providing continuous coverage over the course of each day’s drive. The analyzers are equipped with onboard GPS, which allowed our team to localize the data from the precision NOx analyzer that was also installed in the lab. At the same time, our team’s route and map was constantly updated from a stream of meteorological and traffic data in order to optimize the data collection process and its usefulness.
We selected times early in the morning, often starting before 5am, and late at night, sometimes until 2am, to collect the data during low-traffic times when the sun would not be causing photochemical reactions or significant updrafts. The closer to midday, the stronger the sun and the larger the updraft of warm air that occurs, diluting the concentrations of chemicals in the air and interfering with accurate pollution measurements.
The San Antonio area has been experiencing high concentrations of ground-level ozone, with estimates suggesting that ground-ozone related deaths could cost the city upwards of $170 million. Understanding the specific sources of ground-level ozone in the area could help protect and improve public health and reduce loss of life.
For our fieldwork in San Antonio, the Entanglement team leveraged several past, fixed-monitor studies in order to pre-identify the most likely potential sources of VOCs and NOx in the region surrounding San Antonio. From those sources, we created custom routes that started in the city and branched out each day in different directions, allowing us to fully map the region in a matter of days.
Each route was optimized the night before the drive to ensure we drove perpendicular to expected wind fields and to minimize traffic, which was already minimized significantly due to secondary effects of the global health pandemic.
The AROMA instruments were able to sample the air continuously for VOCs with method detection limits below 5 parts per trillion by volume. While the primary goal was to cover as much ground as possible, we were also able to investigate specific targets flagged for us as potential sources of VOCs and NOx.
Transforming from Snapshot to Insights
The 10 days of data collection allowed the Entanglement team to create an accurate map of VOC and NOx concentrations in counties around Bexar County. The mobile monitoring solution provided significant and numerous benefits over traditional fixed monitoring approaches.
A mobile analyzer collects data that would require hundreds of fixed stations to collect, each one costing more than a single mobile study.
First, the data collected by the AROMA contains a wealth of information which would not be cost-effective to collect with fixed monitors. A mobile analyzer collects data that would require hundreds of fixed stations to collect, each one costing more than a single mobile study. The ability to vary data collection spatially, rather than only temporally, greatly increases the capability of researchers and regulators when looking to assess trends in their regions.
On the other hand, the downside of a mobile campaign is that it only captures a snapshot in time. However, for the purposes of understanding the key sources of precursors that contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone in a municipality, a mobile survey like this can provide the data needed for regulatory decisions to be made much quicker and for a much larger region than feasible with fixed sites. Additionally, mobile studies can be repeated semi-annually for further increasing the usefulness of the data, and for modelling trends and any effects of regulatory decisions on the dispersion and concentrations of ground-level ozone’s primary constituents over longer time periods.
The Entanglement team is currently working to complete the analysis on the data from our 10-day mobile survey. These results will be detailed in a forthcoming white paper. In the meantime, we are exceptionally grateful to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District for the opportunity to collect data in service of improving the public health.
For more information, please contact us.
Entanglement Tech Featured in New Air Quality Case Studies
Comments Off on Entanglement Tech Featured in New Air Quality Case StudiesEntanglement Technologies advanced sensors were featured this month in two new case studies published by Stax and C40 Knowledge Hub.
In A Breath Of Fresh Air: A roadmap for investing in air quality sensing technologies to address climate, health, and air pollution, Stax highlighted Entanglement’s field work after Hurricane Harvey to identify potential contaminants in the region:
Working with local governments and rapid responders, Entanglement surveyed the region in two days to identify hot spots. They provided real-time data to local governments to issue alerts or evacuate areas as needed to protect the public.
C40 also highlighted this work with the Environmental Defense Fund in its report Mobile air quality monitoring in Houston after Hurricane Harvey:
As regulatory monitors had been turned off by state air officials to protect the instruments from the storm, Houston had no information about potential exposures during and in the days following Harvey. To fill this data gap, the City of Houston Health Department dispatched a mobile air quality effort to record toxic hotspots. They found concentrations of benzene – a toxic carcinogen – of 38 times the threshold for an ‘acute’ exposure.
We are happy to see our work being shared to advance mobile sensing technology globally. Learn more about why it’s so important in our recent Medium post.