scholarly journals Design Considerations for a Portable Raman Probe Spectrometer for Field Forensics

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
James F. Kelly ◽  
Thomas A. Blake ◽  
Bruce E. Bernacki ◽  
Timothy J. Johnson

Raman spectroscopy has been shown to be a viable method for explosives detection. Currently most forensic Raman systems are either large, powerful instruments for laboratory experiments or handheld instruments for in situ point detection. We have chosen to examine the performance of certain benchtop Raman probe systems with the goal of developing an inexpensive, portable system that could be used to operate in a field forensics laboratory to examine explosives-related residues or samples. To this end, a rugged, low distortion line imaging dispersive Raman spectrograph was configured to work at 830 nm laser excitation and was used to determine whether the composition of thin films of plastic explosives or small (e.g., ≤10 μm) particles of RDX or other explosives or oxidizers can be detected, identified, and quantified in the field. With 300 mW excitation energy, concentrations of RDX and PETN can be detected and reconstructed in the case of thin Semtex smears, but further work is needed to push detection limits of areal dosages to the ~1 μg/cm2 level. We describe the performance of several probe/spectrograph combinations and show preliminary data for particle detection, calibration and detection linearity for mixed compounds, and so forth.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1570
Author(s):  
Bogdan Ioan Băcilă ◽  
Hyunkook Lee

This paper presents a subjective study conducted on the perception of auditory attributes depending on listener position and head orientation in an enclosed space. Two elicitation experiments were carried out using the repertory grid technique—in-situ and laboratory experiments—which aimed to identify perceptual attributes among 10 different combinations of the listener’s positions and head orientations in a concert hall. It was found that, between the in-situ and laboratory experiments, the listening positions and head orientations were clustered identically. Ten salient perceptual attributes were identified from the data obtained from the laboratory experiment. Whilst these included conventional attributes such as ASW (apparent source width) and LEV (listener envelopment), new attributes such as PRL (perceived reverb loudness), ARW (apparent reverb width) and Reverb Direction were identified, and they are hypothesised to be sub-attributes of LEV (listener envelopment). Timbral characteristics such as Reverb Brightness and Echo Brightness were also identified as salient attributes, which are considered to potentially contribute to the overall perceived clarity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kylie Owen ◽  
Kentaro Saeki ◽  
Joseph D. Warren ◽  
Alessandro Bocconcelli ◽  
David N. Wiley ◽  
...  

AbstractFinding prey is essential to survival, with marine predators hypothesised to track chemicals such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS) while foraging. Many predators are attracted to artificially released DMS, and laboratory experiments have shown that zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton accelerates DMS release. However, whether natural DMS concentrations are useful for predators and correlated to areas of high prey biomass remains a fundamental knowledge gap. Here, we used concurrent hydroacoustic surveys and in situ DMS measurements to present evidence that zooplankton biomass is spatially correlated to natural DMS concentration in air and seawater. Using agent simulations, we also show that following gradients of DMS would lead zooplankton predators to areas of higher prey biomass than swimming randomly. Further understanding of the conditions and scales over which these gradients occur, and how they are used by predators, is essential to predicting the impact of future changes in the ocean on predator foraging success.


2006 ◽  
Vol 321-323 ◽  
pp. 1707-1710
Author(s):  
Kang Ho Ahn ◽  
Yong Min Kim

A feasibility test for real-time fine particle measurements in vacuum semiconductor processing equipment has been conducted. The approach in monitoring particles in process equipment is an installation of a sensor at a critical location inside the process equipment (hence the term ‘in-situ’) to track free particle levels in real-time. Common method for particle detection in a process chamber today is a use of test wafer with a laser wafer scanner. However, this method does not give a real time information of the particle status in the process chamber. In this paper, a new method has been developed to detect particles in real time in vacuum system for particles smaller than an optical method can detect. The system consists of a particle charging region and a particle detection region in a vacuum system. Particles with 50nm are successfully detected at about 10 torr region.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Manuel Leon ◽  
Shehadeh K. Masalmeh ◽  
Siqing Xu ◽  
Ali M. AlSumaiti ◽  
Ahmed A. BinAmro ◽  
...  

Abstract Assessing polymer injectivity for EOR field applications is highly important and challenging. An excessive injectivity reduction during and after polymer injection may potentially affect the well integrity and recovery efficiency and consequently, injection strategy and the economics of the polymer projects. Moreover, well conditions such as skin, completion configuration, and injection water quality can significantly impact polymer injectivity. Additionally, the presence of fractures or micro-fractures may govern injection pressure. In contrast, historic field applications have shown that polymer injectivity is in general better than expected from simulations or laboratory data. In the laboratory experiments, the polymer injectivity has been evaluated by injection of significant amounts of pore volumes of polymer at relevant well-injection rates. In addition, several experiments were performed to measure the complex in-situ rheology expected to dominate the flow near the wellbore This paper presents the analysis of the the world's first polymer injectivity test (PIT) conducted in a high temperature and high salinity (HTHS) carbonate reservoir in Abu Dhabi as part of a comprehensive de-risking program for a new polymer-based EOR scheme proposed by ADNOC for these challenging carbonate reservoirs (see Masalmeh et. al., 2014). The de-risking program includes an extensive laboratory experimental program and field injectivity test to ensure that the identified polymer can be injected and propagated in the target formation before multi-well pilot and full-field implementation stages. Experimental laboratory data and the field injectivity test results are presented in earlier publications (Masalmeh et. al., 2019; Rachapudi et. al., 2020) and references therein. This PIT is the world's first polymer injectivity test in a carbonate reservoir under such harsh conditions of high salinity, high content of divalent ions and high temperature. In addition, the polymer used during the test has never been field-tested before. Therefore, the results of the PIT interpretation will help to de-risk the suitable polymer for the future inter-well pilot for the new proposed EOR Polymer-based scheme and it is a game-changer to unlock several opportunities for different Chemical EOR applications on full-field scale in other reservoirs with similar characteristics. A single well radial simulation model was built to integrate the surveillance data during PIT and the extensive laboratory experiments. Morever, multiple Pressure Fall Off Tests (PFOs) during the same periods were analyzed and intergaretd in the model.The study assessed the effect of polymer viscosity on mobility reduction, evaluated the polymer bank propagation, investigated the effect of the skin build-up, residual resistance factor (RRF) and shear effects on the well injectivity. Additionally, a comprehensive assisted history match method and robust simulation sensitivity analysis was implemented, thousands of sensitivity simulation runs were performed to capture several possible injection scenarios and validate laboratory parameters. The simulation study confirmed that the PIT could be interpreted using the laboratory-measured polymer parameters such as polymer bulk viscosity, in-situ rheology, RRF and adsorption.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuyue He ◽  
Di Wu ◽  
Siwei Chen ◽  
Kai Liu ◽  
Eui-Hyeok Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Dual-functionality Au-on-Ag nanostructures (AOA) were fabricated on a silicon substrate by first immobilizing citrate-reduced Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs, ~43 nm in diameter), followed by depositing ~7 nm Au nanofilms (Au NFs) via thermal evaporation. Au NFs were introduced for their catalytic activity in concave-convex nano-configuration. Ag NPs underneath were used for their significant enhancement factor (EF) in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based measurements of analytes of interest. Rhodamine 6G (R6G) was utilized as the Raman-probe to evaluate the SERS sensitivity of AOA. The SERS EF of AOA is ~37 times than that of Au NPs. Using reduction of 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP) by sodium borohydride (NaBH4) as a model reaction, we demonstrated the robust catalytic activity of AOA as well as its capacity to continuously monitor via SERS the disappearance of reactant 4-NTP, emergence and disappearance of intermediate 4, 4’-DMAB, and the appearance of product 4-ATP throughout the reduction process in real-time and in situ.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Christiane Raab ◽  
Manfred N. Partl

Growing economy and increasing pollution evoke the need for more environmentally friendly road construction techniques and the saving of natural resources. In this context, cold recycling plays an important role since, on the one hand, it allows to reduce CO2 emissions drastically and, on the other hand, it offers a variety of opportunities for high percentages of recycling. Inspired by experience in Sweden, the international project “Optimal Recycling of Reclaimed Asphalts for low-traffic Pavement” (ORRAP) for low-volume roads in the Upper Rhine region aims to develop and establish a new strategy for 100% reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) at ambient temperature (20°C) without adding virgin bituminous binders or rejuvenators. The still ongoing research project involves laboratory experiments as well as in situ test sections. The link between small-scale laboratory experiments and in situ testing is provided by medium-scale traffic simulation in the laboratory. This paper describes results from medium-scale compaction in the laboratory using different methods as well as traffic simulation with a medium-scale mobile traffic load simulator. The results show that compaction in the laboratory at ambient temperature (20°) is very difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, it was found that compaction at a temperature of 60°C appears possible and provides promising results regarding stability and rutting enabling the in situ construction. The in situ pavement construction at ambient temperature on a low-volume road in Switzerland resulted in a visibly well-compacted and stable base course which was covered by a hot mix asphalt surface course the day after. The test section will be monitored closely over the next 12 months.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (02) ◽  
pp. 158-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Nissen ◽  
Zhouyuan Zhu ◽  
Anthony Kovscek ◽  
Louis Castanier ◽  
Margot Gerritsen

Summary We demonstrate the effectiveness of a non-Arrhenius kinetic upscaling approach for in-situ-combustion processes, first discussed by Kovscek et al. (2013). Arrhenius reaction terms are replaced with equivalent source terms that are determined by a work flow integrating both laboratory experiments and high-fidelity numerical simulations. The new formulation alleviates both stiffness and grid dependencies of the traditional Arrhenius approach. Consequently, the computational efficiency and robustness of simulations are improved significantly. In this paper, we thoroughly investigate the performance of the non-Arrhenius upscaling method compared with Arrhenius kinetics. We investigate robustness by considering grid effects and sensitivity to heterogeneity. Performance improvements of the new kinetic upscaling approach compared with traditional Arrhenius kinetics are demonstrated through numerical experiments in one and two dimensions for both homogeneous- and heterogeneous-permeability fields.


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