Microfluidic Sensors for Performing Real-Time BOD Measurements

The proposed SBIR project addresses the U.S. Navy’s desire to confirm, in real time, the quality of effluents produced by shipboard wastewater treatment systems; thereby eliminating the time delay imposed by the universally accepted 5-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD-5) test that is used to legally validate the discharge of wastewater into the environment. At the present time, the 5-day time requirement of BOD-5 tests prevents Navy personnel from rapidly correcting problems with USGS certified Type II Marine Sanitation Devices that are being used to treat shipboard wastewater supplies. This requirement also makes it impossible to guarantee the water quality of shipboard wastewater discharges on a real-time basis during military operations. Due to existing/emerging environmental regulations that are focused on protecting the quality of global water supplies, the continued unavailability of real-time BOD measurements may eventually cause restrictions to military operations in littoral waters because of the limited capacity of shipboard holding tanks. The development/commercialization of the proposed microfluidic sensors, discussed herein, provides an innovative and cost-effective solution for estimating BOD-5 values within 5 minutes. Phase I objectives will focus on developing a new, innovative biocatalyst-mediated sensor combined with kinetic-based analysis algorithms for enabling the completion of real-time BOD measurements.