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LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORIES: LASER-INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROMETER FOR METALS-CONTAMINATED SOIL CHARACTERIZATION
Citation:
Einfeld, W. LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORIES: LASER-INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROMETER FOR METALS-CONTAMINATED SOIL CHARACTERIZATION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-98/082 (NTIS PB2001-100484), 1998.
Description:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through the Environmental Technology Verification Program, is working to accelerate the acceptance and use of innovative technologies that improve the way the United States manages its environmental problems. This report describes the results of a field demonstration conducted at contaminated soil sites near Butte, Montana, in which developers of soil characterization technologies were invited to participate. The Consortium classifies each candidate technology into one of three development levels on the basis of maturity of the technology and its expected time to commercialization. A demonstration of selected Department of Energy-funded technologies was being planned by MSE-HKM, Inc., under contract to the Department of Energy. The demonstration plan incorporated the use of reference laboratories to analyze metals in the soil samples using standard EPA Laboratory protocols.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is a form of atomic emission spectroscopy that uses a high-powered laser to vaporize a soil sample, causing excitation of the metal atoms in the sample. A high degree of homogeneity facilitates comparison of the soil analysis results from the demonstrated technologies with those from the reference laboratories. The data from the reference laboratory and Los Alamos LIBS technology data are presented in a variety of formatss to assist in comparing the data sets produced dduring the demonstrations. The Los Alamos laser-induced breakdown spectrometer system falls into a Level 1 category. Consequently, a formal assessment of the system's performance is not within the scope of this report.