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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
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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

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| New
Products and Accessories |
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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.
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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
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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.

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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).
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.

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| Oceans
2010 MTS/IEEE, Seattle, Washington, USA, Washington
State Convention and Trade Center, September 20-23, 2010,
Booth #325 |
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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. |
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| Clean
Gulf 2010, Tampa, FL, USA, Tampa Convention Center,
October 19-20, 2010, Booth #814 |
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| 2010
AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, Moscone
Convention Center, December 1317, 2010, Booth
#TBD |
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| Turner
Designs Knowledge Database |
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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.

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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
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