Evaluation of the Use of Cold Plasma for Microtiter Plate Cleaning to Reduce Plastic Biohazard Waste

Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects in the Earth’s environment and is a global problem of increasing importance. The laboratory and health care industries contribute to this problem by the widely accepted single use of plastics, including microtiter plates used for compound testing. At AstraZeneca, we predict the use of more than 45,000 384-well and more than 11,000 1536-well microtiter plates per year. IonField Systems has developed a microplate cleaning system (MCS) powered by PlasmaKnife technology that uses cold plasma to clean microtiter plates. AstraZeneca proposed the use of this system for standard ANSI ( https://slas.org/resources/information/industry-standards/ ) microtiter plate regeneration. Here we present the results of an evaluation using a model system involving the cleaning of plates following an enzyme-based biochemical assay, as well as the software and hardware enhancements that were incorporated into the production PlasmaKnife MCS. The method involved determining the level of inhibition achieved by residual compound following different cleaning protocols and showed that cleaning achieved in about 2 min was sufficient to remove trace compound contamination. Future work will focus on assessing the number of regeneration cycles that can be reliably achieved.

Physical Activation of Waste-Derived Materials for Biogas Cleaning

Biogas produced from biomass is carbon neutral. In fact, the carbon feedstock of biomass is converted into gas phase. Biogas use in high efficient energy systems, such as Solid Oxide Fuel Cells is a viable choice. One of the most important drawbacks for such systems is related to the interaction between trace compounds and anode section. Gas cleaning through physical removal mechanisms is the simplest and cheapest method adopted in the literature. Coupled with this solution, the recovery of waste materials is an efficient application of the circular economy approach. In this work, a physical activation process was investigated experimentally for waste-derived materials at a temperature of 700 °C. The removal of H2S was considered as the most abundant trace compound. Activated biochar showed an adsorption capacity comparable to commercial sorbents, while the performance of ashes are still too poor. An important parameter to be considered is the biogas humidity content that enters in competition with trace compounds that must be removed.

Characterization of Mg0.8Zn0.2TiO3 Prepared via Liquid Phase Sintering

Mg0.8Zn0.2TiO3 powder was synthesized by dissolved method and calcined at 550 °C for 4 hours. The powder exhibited single phase of Mg0.8Zn0.2TiO3 and nano size particle. Sintered pellet samples were prepared by compacting calcined powder which contains 4wt% B2O3 (MZTA), 4wt% Bi2O3 (MZTB) as liquid additive and non-additive sample (MZTC). Phase identification and its percentage were analyzed based on XRD pattern using Rietveld method. The result shows major phase Mg0.8Zn0.2TiO3 ranging from 72.83% for MZTA, 77.9% for MZTB and 82.61% for MZTC. Furthermore, minor phases were identified as Mg2TiO4 and other trace compound Mg3TiO2(BO3)2 for boron additive. Sintered pellet densities were determined by Archimedes method indicate that Bi2O3 additive has the most effective for densification. Microstructure characterization using SEM show that MZTB possesses the largest grain size ≈3.4µm followed by MZTA 2.3µm and MZTC 1.78µm. Dielectrics characterizations within frequency 1 Hz – 32 MHz exhibited space charge polarization characteristic for frequency <1 kHz, however for frequency >1 kHz showed frequency independence of dipolar polarizations and low dielectric loss having εr~17.

The very short-lived ozone depleting substance CHBr₃ (bromoform): revised UV absorption spectrum, atmospheric lifetime and ozone depletion potential

CHBr3 (bromoform) is a short-lived atmospheric trace compound that is primarily of natural origin and is a source of reactive bromine in both the troposphere and stratosphere. Estimating the overall atmospheric impact of CHBr3 and its transport to the stratosphere requires a thorough understanding of its atmospheric loss processes, which are primarily UV photolysis and reaction with the OH radical. In this study, UV absorption cross sections, σ (λ ,T), for CHBr3 were measured at wavelengths between 300 and 345 nm at temperatures between 260 and 330 K using cavity ring-down spectroscopy. The present results are compared with currently recommended values for use in atmospheric models, and the discrepancies are discussed. A parameterization of the CHBr3 UV spectrum for use in atmospheric models is developed, and illustrative photolysis rate calculations are presented to highlight the impact of the revised σ (λ, T) values on its calculated local lifetimes. For example, the photolysis rate in the tropical region obtained with the present spectral data is 10–15% lower (longer lifetime) than obtained using currently recommended cross section values. Seasonally dependent ozone depletion potentials (ODPs) for CHBr3 emitted in the Indian sub-continent were calculated to be 0.10, 0.34, 0.72, and 0.23 (winter, spring, summer, fall) using the semi-empirical relationship of Brioude et al. (2010).

The very short-lived ozone depleting substance CHBr₃ (bromoform): revised UV absorption spectrum, atmospheric lifetime and ozone depletion potential

CHBr3 (bromoform) is a short-lived atmospheric trace compound that is primarily of natural origin and is a source of reactive bromine in both the troposphere and stratosphere. Estimating the overall atmospheric impact of CHBr3 and its transport to the stratosphere requires a thorough understanding of its atmospheric loss processes, which are primarily UV photolysis and reaction with the OH radical. In this study, UV absorption cross sections, σ (λ,T), for CHBr3 were measured at wavelengths between 300 and 345 nm at temperatures between 260 and 330 K using cavity ring-down spectroscopy. The present results are compared with currently recommended values for use in atmospheric models and the discrepancies are discussed. A parameterization of the CHBr3 UV spectrum for use in atmospheric models is developed and illustrative photolysis rate calculations are presented to highlight the impact of the revised σ (λ,T) values on its calculated local lifetimes. Seasonally dependent ozone depletion potentials (ODPs) for CHBr3 emitted in the Indian sub-continent were calculated to be 0.08, 0.26, 0.54, and 0.17 (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) using the semi–empirical relationship of Brioude et al. (2010).