A Novel, Lightweight, Ammonia Vapor Detector

The drive to improve agricultural output in America has led to advancements in manytechnologies which improve product yields while simultaneously increasing environmentalpollution and toxins. In particular ammonia vapor has been identified by the EPA and OSHA asa principle pollutant and toxin arising from various sources of agricultural waste (ie. fertilizeroveruse improper animal waste management etc.) and industrial strength cleaning solutionscontaminating air and water sources and threatening the health and safety of human beingslivestock and crops. Moreover the high pollution density of many industrial agriculturalenterprises raises the potential for both long and short-term hazards ranging from mild ammoniaexposure to severe ammonia poisoning. OSHA has set a 50 ppm limit for ammonia exposure overan 8-hour work day and the EPA considers 300 ppm exposure to be immediately threatening tohuman life.In response to the stated needs of the USDA Special Research Priorities for new and improvedtechnologies to monitor air quality and reduce air pollution stemming from agricultural enterprisesSeacoast proposes the development of a novel low-cost high-performance ammonia detector.This device will monitor and quantify the intensity and duration of gas-phase ammonia in real- time maintain a record of the cumulative vapor load and wirelessly transmit this data to a personalcomputing device for analysis via software that can be operated with minimal user training. Thewireless capabilities will also enable each sensor to be utilized as a node in a wireless ammoniadetection network that can accurately capture detailed 3D information regarding the evolution anddiffusion of ammonia vapor across a diverse array of agricultural and industrial settings.Anammonia detector that is sufficiently versatile to accommodate the diversity of chemical detectionneeds across a range of physical settings would find broad appeal to the market. In particular adevice which allows end-users to accurately collect real-time topographical data on the diffusionof ammonia vapor across a diverse array of 3-deminsional orientations and configurations wouldfill a critical need.The underlying sensing technology of the proposed ammonia detector is based on theintegration of novel ammonia-sensitive Lewis Acid Telechelic Polymers (LATPs) measured bythe proprietary Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems MEMS chemicapacitor and chemiresistortransducers developed at Seacoast. In Phase I Seacoast Science Inc. will validate proof of conceptfor a low-cost polymer-based gas-phase ammonia detector.The goals of Phase I work are to 1)Develop novel ammonia-sensitive LATPs; 2) Analyze the use of LATPs as an ammonia detectionplatform; 3) Identify methods to rationally improve upon the LATP sensitivity versus interferents4) Develop temperature and humidity calibration plots; 5) Outline the steps necessary to developan advanced prototype for Phase II. The proposed system will allow both periodic detection andcontinuous unattended monitoring of ammonia vapor in a user-friendly device that can be operatedby non-technical staff.