
 |
|
Millions of gallons of crude
oil have now leaked out into the Gulf of Mexico. Everyone
is scrambling, working hard to try to contain leaked oil
and monitor the areas that are in danger of becoming contaminated.
Because oil and water will not mix completely, it's quite
easy to see the oil patches or the oil sheen at the surface
of the ocean where concentrations are high. But at depths
where the oil is trapped by stratification, in areas where
the concentration is very low, or when trying to detect
the fraction of dissolved oil in water, instrumentation
is required.
Turner Designs is doing our
part to help clean up the oil spill. We are currently
providing many groups with our Ultra Violet (UV) fluorometers
specifically designed to detect Crude Oil. Our Cyclops-7
Crude Oil Fluorometer is an analog output device that
can be integrated into any datalogger, CTD, or third-party
system that is capable of accepting a 0-5 volt signal.
It outputs a voltage signal that is proportional to the
amount of oil in the water -- the greater the concentration
of oil, the larger the voltage output.
The US Coast Guard and other government agencies are currently
using our C3 Submersible Fluorometer which houses the
Cyclops-7 Crude Oil Fluorometer. The C3 offers real-time
data view, data logging, and calibration software. The
USCG SMART protocol allows users to obtain a better picture
of how oil is horizontally and vertically distributed
in water by meshing GPS data with crude oil fluorescence
data taken from our C3 Submersible Fluorometer.
Determining how the oil is
being moved by currents and tides and its distribution
in the water column will greatly help the efforts put
forth to try to contain leaked oil and protect the areas
that are in danger of becoming contaminated. We're heartbroken
at the extent of the damage that is occurring, but find
some solace in the thought that we can help in the clean-up.
This newsletter is focused on those activities.
Best
Regards,
Pam Mayerfeld
VP of Marketing & Sales
|
|
U.S.
Coast Guard SMART Team
Coast Guard Petty Officer
2nd Class Kurt Stricklen and crew, members of a
Coast Guard Special Monitoring of Applied Response
Technologies (SMART) team, collect oiled water samples
in the Gulf of Mexico using the C3
Submersible Fluorometer. The team of specialists
in oil-spill and hazardous substance monitoring
use state-of-the-art technology to gather samples
and field data which help environmental scientists
determine the effectiveness of dispersants used
to break down oil in the water. Watch
the Video - You Tube
Seakeepers Society
Using the C3 Multi-Sensor Platform to Track the
Gulf Spill
The Seakeepers Society has integrated our C3
Submersible Fluorometer configured with oil
optics with their SeaKeeper 1000 oceanographic and
atmospheric data acquisition system to track the
Gulf Spill. Read the article "USA
Seakeepers' detection technology embraced for Gulf
crisis" published on BYM Marine Environment
News.
Sea School in Florida
Using Turner Designs Fluorometers to Track the Gulf
Oil Spill
Sanibel
Sea School in Florida is using the Cyclops-7
Submersible Fluorometer configured with crude
oil optics and partnered with the DataBank
Handheld Datalogger to check for oil in local
waters.
Watch
the Video - NBC-2.com

|
| New
Products and Accessories |
|
Refined Fuels Optics
Turner Designs now offers Deep UV Optical sensors
for detection of Refined
Fuels and Oils. Recent developments in LED technology
allow for excitation wavelengths down to 260nm.
Using BTEX as the standard, the sensors are able
to detect as low as 0.1ppm and have a dynamic range
of 0 - 2500 ppm. Both the Cyclops-7
and C3
Submersible Fluorometers can be purchased with
Deep UV optics offering some of the lowest cost
solutions for in situ detection of refined
fuels and oils.
C3 Submersible Fluorometer
now has Analog Output
The Turner Designs C3
Submersible Fluorometer is now available with
an Analog
Output Adapter which outputs a 0-5 VDC signal
for 1, 2, or 3 channels depending on the C3 configuration.
The adapter enables integration with CTDs or any
dataloggers that accept a 0-5 VDC signal. It plugs
directly into the C3 and is securely held in place
by the battery bracket. The C-Soft Windows-based
user interface allows for intuitive C3 calibration,
data logging, and data management.
Introducing the
C-ray
The
C-ray (PN 2300-750), an in situ deployment
body for the C3
that allows the fluorometer to be towed horizontally
through the water at low speeds, is being used as
part of the SMART
oil spill response protocol in the Gulf of Mexico.
Following the protocol, fluorescence measurements,
as well as temperature and depth, are integrated
with position data from GPS systems providing an
accurate picture of the distribution of oil in water
that simple profiling can not.
C3/C6 Integration
Cables
The C3
and C6
can be set up for autonomous operation; collecting
data for days, weeks or months. If, for whatever
reason, the PC collecting the data reboots it can
interrupt the data transmission from the fluorometer.
Turner Designs released the C3/C6 integration cable
as a preemptive measure against this potential problem.
 |
The
Integration Cable is identified by the yellow
shrink tube seen here. The Integration Cable
can not be used for firmware upgrades.
Part Number 2200-160
24" Integration cable C3/C6
Part Number 2200-165
5 Meter Integration cable C3/C6
|
Turbidity Calibration
Standards
GFS Chemicals has developed and certified new turbidity
standards that are specifically engineered for optimal
performance of Turner Designs instruments. The Aquafluor,
Trilogy and C-series instruments each have specific
primary turbidity standards that should be used
when calibrating.
AquaFluor
10 NTU - GFS Part Number 8545
100 NTU - GFS Part Number 8546
Trilogy
10 NTU - GFS Part Number 8502
100 NTU - GFS Part Number 8503
Cyclops-7, C3 and C6
10 NTU - GFS Part Number 8506
100 NTU - GFS Part Number 8507
GFS Chemicals offers a variety of sizes: 125 mL,
250 mL, 500 mL, 1 L, and 1 Gal bottles.
GFS
Chemicals Inc.
800 McKinley Ave Columbus Ohio 43222
Tel 800-858-9682
Josh Crow Manager
Amco Clear Water Analysis Division GFS Chemicals
Inc.
Fluorescein Dye
and Calibration Standard
Turner Designs now offers fluorescein dye in a concentrated
40% active ingredient liquid form. A fluorometric
calibration standard is also available.
Part Number 10-109
Concentrated Liquid Fluorescein Dye 8 oz.
Part Number 10-209 Concentrated Liquid Fluorescein
Dye 8 Lbs.
Part Number 10-508 Fluorescein Calibration Standard
1 Liter (2 x 500 mL bottles)
To request a quote
for any of the above mentioned products please contact
our sales department.

|
|
What
is Crude Oil?
Crude Oil
is simply unprocessed oil found deep beneath the
earth's surface. It can range in color from clear
to black and can be found as a liquid or solid.
Generally, crude oils are made up of hydrocarbon
compounds. The main hydrocarbons found in crude
oil are Aliphatics, Alicyclics, and Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbons (PAHs). The aromaticity, chemical composition,
or molecular structures of these compounds in crude
oil play a key role in determining their fluorescence
intensities and emission wavelengths (Figure 1 below).
 |
Figure
1 Legend:
1 - Motor oil
2 - Shell Diala oil
3 - Oil SAE 30
4 - Bunker Fuel oil
5 - Arabian Medium crude oil
6 - Basra crude oil
7 - German crude oil
8 - Nihian crude oil
|
Fluorimetry is required
for detecting low concentrations, determining fraction
dissolved, and tracking horizontal and vertical
distribution of oil in water. Turner Designs' Cyclops-7
and C3
Submersible Fluorometers are two in situ
fluorometers that can be configured with crude oil
optics specifically for detecting the fluorescence
of crude oil in water. These instruments can be
calibrated with specific crude oil standards or
samples with known concentration for the purpose
of obtaining quantitative values of oil in water.
Another option is to simply calibrate the instruments
using a blank sample (either de-ionized water or
filtered natural water that does not contain oil)
and measure relative fluorescence values to qualitatively
analyze oil in water. Either calibration proves
useful for determining changing oil concentrations
in water.
Figure 2 (below) is
an example of how Turner Designs' crude oil optics,
namely the Cyclops-7 Crude Oil Fluorometer, respond
to the addition of Osberg crude oil to de-ionized
water. Crude oil was mixed into the water in a stepwise
manner increasing in concentration from 0 - 2 parts
per million (ppm) of Osberg crude oil (as emulsions)
in water. These data are also an example of how
users can establish linearity, create a calibration
curve, or determine resolution and limits for the
oil specific to their study.
 |
Figure 2: Osberg
crude oil mixed into water as emulsions, measured
using Cyclops-7 Fluorometer configured with
crude oil optics. Readings were taken on the
most sensitive gain setting.
|
|
|
Instrument Donation
Program
Congratulations to our recent instrument donation
winners Denise Burchsted at the University of Connecticut
and Andrew Hewitt at Lincoln University in New Zealand!
To learn more about how they are using the awarded
instruments visit our donation
recipients page. We will award an Aquafluor
in December -- applications are due no later than
November 1st. Please visit
our website for information on how to apply.
Free Shipping and
Handling Offer
We're offering FREE ground shipping and handling
on all orders >$500 shipping within the continental
US though 2010. Request
a quote
Turner Designs is
on Facebook!
We'll be posting new product announcements and hope
to see lots of comments from all our friends. We
included a museum of instrumentation showing 38
years of our fluorometers in use - please upload
your photos showing our instruments in action. Under
Discussions we encourage your input on additional
applications or future instrumentation you'd like
us to provide. Please find
us on Facebook to get all the latest updates.

|
| Oceans
2010 MTS/IEEE, Seattle, Washington,
USA, Washington State Convention and Trade Center,
September 20-23, 2010, Booth #325 |
| |
Ocean
Optics 2010,
Anchorage, Alaska, USA, Hotel Captain Cook,
September 27 - October 1, 2010
We will be presenting a poster titled A NEW
LOW COST, MULTISPECTRAL IN-SITU ABSORBANCE INSTRUMENT. |
| |
| Clean
Gulf 2010, Tampa, FL, USA, Tampa Convention
Center, October 19-20, 2010, Booth #814 |
| |
| NALMS
30th International Symposium, Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, USA, Cox Convention Center,
November 3rd - 5th, 2010, Booth #TBD |
| |
| 2010
AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA,
USA, Moscone Convention Center, December 1317,
2010, Booth #TBD |
|
| Turner
Designs Knowledge Database |
|
Don't forget to check
out our Knowledge
Database. It's a robust search engine to use
if you have technical questions about Turner Designs'
products or applications.
Your feedback and input
are not only welcome but also essential for us to
continually improve our KDB. Please feel free to
use the "Add case" link at the bottom
of the main screen to submit ideas for future articles
or suggest inclusion of information you feel would
be of interest. Also the "Feedback" link
provides a means to contact the technical support
team on any question you have regarding Turner Designs
products or services.

|
|
|
Turner
Designs Inc. · 845 W. Maude Avenue ·
Sunnyvale · CA · 94085 · USA
Toll Free 877.316.8049 · Tel 408.749.0994
· Fax 408.749.0998
newsletter@turnerdesigns.com · www.turnerdesigns.com
© Turner Designs Inc. 2010 All Rights Reserved
|
|
|