RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY
Release date: Spring 2001
Contact: Media Relations [email protected](509) 375-3776
Portable buoy charters promising voyage - Buoys - permanent, single-purpose moorings, right? Not so, if it's part of a promising new buoy developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory at its Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sequim, Wash.
The Aquatic Bio-optical and Environmental Assessment Monitoring Buoy is designed to validate satellite signals recorded and relayed from space, while simultaneously monitoring water quality parameters in coastal, estuarine and inland waters. The portable, lightweight buoy provides quick-response data gathering for natural resource assessment in these waters.
During its fall 2000 maiden voyage, the prototype buoy was towed into Sequim Bay. Equipped with cell-phone technology and a multi-sensor platform, the buoy demonstrated it could communicate with researchers in near real-time and provide customized data. This new generation of buoy also shows promise for saving money by providing a remote platform for data collection, rather than manning labor-intensive and expensive shipboard platforms.
New research to drool over - Having the ability to determine within minutes whether a person has been exposed to harmful chemicals would be an important medical breakthrough, particularly in emergency situations. Typically, the most effective method for assessing exposure requires analysis of blood or urine. However, this often is time consuming and expensive.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers are developing a new monitoring technology structured around the collection and analysis of saliva samples. PNNL's non-invasive saliva monitoring approach, currently undergoing bench-scale laboratory testing, offers several new promising features. The technology is designed to be portable, highly reliable and quick in providing results. It would be cost-effective for home and workplace monitoring of trace metals and organics.
For example, exposures to high lead concentrations in aging homes are a critical health concern, particularly when children are exposed. Saliva concentrations have been shown to correlate with blood lead levels based upon analysis of a "spot" saliva specimen. This system also may be applicable to a broad range of drugs and environmental contaminants.
New washers clean up in energy savings - Multifamily complex owners could save electricity and money if they replaced washers in coin-operated laundry rooms with energy-efficient alternatives, according to a study Pacific Northwest National Laboratory conducted at Leisure World, a California senior community.
That is good news for Southern California Edison, which funded the study to determine potential energy savings from installation of new washers in multifamily buildings. The savings could be significant for Leisure World, which runs 1,000 coin-operated washers. Nearly all of the facility's 18,000 residents live in multifamily buildings.
PNNL's study shows that, over their lifetime, energy-efficient washers would offset the higher purchase price with energy savings. The energy-efficient washers installed and analyzed at Leisure World used up to 66 percent less electricity and up to 60 percent less water than older washers.
Washer performance also fared well with the residents, as 72 percent surveyed expressed satisfaction with washer performance.
Go to http://www.pnl.gov/buildings/SCEFinal%202-22-01.PDF to download the report.
Mexico's "liquid gold" - A century ago annual floods ravaged the great Mexico City Basin. Today, however, Mexico City's 20 million inhabitants are rapidly depleting their life-giving aquifer and threatening their future water supply.
To address this critical issue, Battelle researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have partnered with experts from Mexico to develop a sustainable water management strategy for the future. The team has completed an assessment of injecting treated wastewater back into the aquifer and developed a set of integrated simulations of the water system for evaluating potential actions. Project evaluations included social and health implications, costs and stakeholder involvement.
Battelle's Mexican Alliance Initiative is a collaboration of PNNL, the Autonomous Metropolitan University, the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the Mexican Petroleum Institute.
An anticipated second phase of work will help develop a pilot program for injecting treated wastewater into the aquifer.
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