The Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell) will use the funding from this MRI proposal toward the acquisition of two complementary analytical instrumentations to study complex contaminants in water. The instrumentation cluster consists of a highly sensitive Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) system and an Ion Chromatography (IC) system. The requested GC/MS system is the Agilent Technologies 5975C Series system and the IC system is the Dionex Corporation ICS-1000 system. The requested instrumentations will also be used for several undergraduate and graduate educational activities.
The UMass Lowell CEE faculty will use the requested instrumentations for student training, and to study a variety of complex organic and inorganic environmental contaminants including, but not limiting to, research projects on (a) water quality and environmental impacts from alternative fuels such as the E85 fuel and coal-derived liquid fuels; (b) groundwater contamination from coal tars; (c) iron activated sodium persulfate for in situ chemical oxidation of groundwater contaminants; (d) trace compounds in water such as medicines, cosmetic products, hormones, and other personal care products; (e) phosphorus removal in retrofitted wastewater secondary treatment systems.
UMass Lowell is located in Lowell Massachusetts, approximately 25 miles northwest from downtown Boston. UMass Lowell serves the educational needs for a diverse group of students from Massachusetts as well as from other states and nations. The Civil and Environmental Engineering department is committed to the University's goal of attracting students from minority and underrepresented groups. The requested instrumentations will be instrumental in training and preparing the next generation of UMass Lowell engineering students, particularly CEE students, for employment and advanced studies.
