Environmental Chemistry Laboratory

Lab Director:             Professor George A.Sorial

Lab Locations:           706A, 707A, 709A, 709B, 709C, 707A, and 712  Rhodes Hall

Research Areas: 

• Electrochemical processes for destruction of organic contaminants.
• Activated carbon adsorption – granular and fibrous forms (micropollutant and macropollutant removal from water and wastewater, characterization of adsorbent materials, and interactions between micropollutants and humic substances).
• Air biofiltration for removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using combined treatment schemes of pressure swing adsorption and biofilters.
• Development of analytical methods for chemical analysis.
• Development of protocols for USEPA in effectiveness of surfactants on oil spills.

Instruction Areas: 

The laboratory is equipped with state-of-the art equipment used in CEE 658 Environmental Instrumentation Course.

Major Reactors and Analytical Equipment:

·        Electrochemical reactor used for the study of destruction of organic contaminants.

·        Pressure swing adsorption used for the study of removal of VOCs from contaminated air.

·        Shimadzu RF-1501 Spectroflurophotometer for measuring aqueous phase fluorescing species such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

·        Perkin Elmer FTIR Spectrometer Paragon 1000 for measuring interactions with surfaces and adsorbates.

·        Perkin Elmer Analyst 300 Furnace and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer foe measuring aqueous metal concentrations down to parts per billion with the graphite furnace accessory.

·        Shimadzu UV Mini 1240 Spectrophotometer for measuring the UV-VIS absorption spectra of a wide variety of compounds.

·        Shimadzu TOC 5050 Total Organic Carbon Analyzer for measuring total organic and inorganic carbon by combustion followed by infra red detection.

·        Two gas chromatographs (GC) equipped with Flame ionization detector (FID) and electron capture detector (ECD) for analyzing a wide variety of organic contaminants. One GC is equipped with an Auto injection system.

·        Agilant GC 6890  series system equipped with 5973 Mass Selective Detector and Auto injection for measuring organic compounds down to parts per billion level and for identifying the structure of a single organic compound.

·        Agilent 1100 HPLC equipped with a Diode Array Detector and Auto injection system used for measuring organic species in water.