Hello, my get upwards is Emily Conkling in addition to I’m a junior inwards Environmental in addition to Ecological Engineering. This past times summer, I worked amongst Dr. Andrew Whelton through the Purdue SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) Program.
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| These are pictures of me during my SURF presentation, in addition to during champaign operate inwards California. |
The projection I worked on studied the environmental affects in addition to occupational hazards of working amongst cured-in-place piping (or CIPP). CIPP is a method of repairing faulty sewer in addition to tempest H2O pipes. This method involves inverting a resin-impregnated subway scheme into the faulty piping in addition to curing it inwards house - basically making a novel piping inside the onetime one. It’s a convenient alternative because the novel piping tin live on installed inwards 1 day, in addition to it doesn’t request violent upwards asphalt or concrete or travail whatever long-term route construction.
The left painting demonstrate is a slice of rehabilitated pipe. The CIPP is the blueish piping that sits inside the onetime pipe. The correct painting demonstrate shows what the uncured resin looks similar earlier it is cured inside a pipe, similar inwards the left picture.
One number amongst CIPP is that its chemic composition (and thus its environmental effects) are really poorly understood. We know that it’s fiberglass reinforced in addition to contains a chemic chemical compound called styrene, but other than that, nosotros don’t know much. Despite this lack of knowledge, this CIPP resin has been assumed to live on the travail of downstream fish kills in addition to algal blooms, in addition to adverse wellness effects inwards humans. So my squad in addition to I laid upwards out to expose out what precisely was happening amongst this stuff.
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| Dr. Whelton in addition to Professor Howarter on site at Purdue |
One of the outset things nosotros looked at was the resin itself, both cured in addition to uncured. We analyzed these past times putting niggling pieces of it inwards dissimilar solvents, which basically intermission downwards in addition to extract whatever chemicals are inwards the CIPP resin. Once those ‘soaked’ for fourteen days, the solvent was pose into the GC/MS (Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry). This machine divides upwards the chemicals in addition to tells you lot what they are based on molecular weight. This whole physical care for told us to a greater extent than or less of the chemicals introduce inwards CIPP in addition to its resin.
The adjacent footstep was to figure out what chemicals escaped during the CIPP installation. Luckily for us, in that location were a few installations scheduled for Purdue’s campus. We took monitoring in addition to sampling equipment amongst us to the installation. We brought a photoionization detector (or PID) which was calibrated to stair out the concentration of styrene inwards the air. We also brought pumps amongst sorbent tubes attached, in addition to handbag sampling pumps. The sorbent tubes are niggling metallic tubes almost 4” long in addition to chemicals inwards the air sorb, or stick, on to the tube. You tin in addition to so accept this subway scheme dorsum to the lab in addition to analyze it using the GC/MS. Bag sampling pumps are pumps that suck the surrounding air into a tedlar bag, which is a laboratory-grade Ziploc bag. Again, you lot tin analyze the bags of air using the GC/MS.
All of this operate was done inwards training for doing champaign operate inwards California. We wanted to brand certain nosotros had a skillful persuasion of what to hold back for earlier nosotros packed upwards all the equipment in addition to headed west. In early on August, nosotros loaded upwards a Purdue van, in addition to made the forty hr trek to Sacramento, California.
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| We stopped inwards Laramie, Wyoming the outset night. I took this painting demonstrate earlier nosotros got dorsum on the interstate inwards the morning. |
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| We also stopped past times the Bonneville Salt Flats inwards Utah, domicile of the Blue Planet dry soil speed records. |
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| Team coming together earlier champaign operate begins |
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| Have to brand certain the respirators fit! |
For the most part, nosotros used the same physical care for inwards California equally nosotros did at Purdue, but on a larger scale. One master copy departure was that nosotros took a stainless steel apparatus to California. The utilisation of this device was to integrate all of the equipment I talked almost earlier into 1 large system. Instead of having 1 machine over hither in addition to to a greater extent than or less other machine over there, all of our champaign equipment was side-by-side. This made things easier for us to operate, in addition to also helped ensure that our information would live on comparable.
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| This is me prepping a PID earlier nosotros laid out our operate for the day. |
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| This is our lab inwards California. As you lot tin see, nosotros pack light. |
Now that nosotros are dorsum inwards our lab at Purdue, all the analyzing begins. The tedlar bags were analyzed first, followed past times the sorbent tubes. Next on the docket is uncured in addition to cured CIPP samples, followed past times other things collected on site.
Going into the SURF program, I wasn’t certain what I would mean value of it. I assumed that I’d live on stuck inwards a lab working on something that wouldn’t actually live on applicable inwards the ‘real world.’ And I’m glad that SURF proved me wrong. My operate this summertime got me outside, doing something dissimilar every day, in addition to it’s something that volition receive got right away impacts on the existent world. Undergraduate interrogation is definitely something I receive got grown to actually like, in addition to I highly recommend it to other students. It’s a slap-up agency to encounter other students, larn to know faculty, in addition to larn to a greater extent than or less actually skillful sense that volition brand you lot valuable to recruiters. After this experience, I am seriously considering getting a Master’s degree, in addition to I’m incredibly thankful for my interrogation team, SURF, in addition to Purdue. Boiler Up!