Source: ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
ACQUISITION OF A MICROWAVE DIGESTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AT ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
NRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0196568
Grant No.
2003-35107-13626
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
2003-01882
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 15, 2003
Project End Date
Aug 14, 2004
Grant Year
2003
Program Code
[25.0]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY
4900 MERIDIAN STREET
NORMAL,AL 35762
Performing Department
PLANT & SOIL SCIENCES
Non Technical Summary
Sample preparation is considered as one of the most critical and important condition in plant and soil analysis. Many methods involving the measurement of environmental samples require the destruction of the sample by high temperature acid digestions. Microwave digestion is the state-of-the-art technique used for this purpose. This method provides advantages over conventional methods because it is more reproducible, more accurate, less time consuming, compatible with most traditional reagents, and cost-effective. Acquisition of a microwave digestion system will replace the classical digestion methods routinely used in the environmental research projects in the department. Adopting this technique will speed up the collection of information and will have an enormous impact on obtaining preliminary values for various environmental research projects and contribute greatly student training on state-of-the-art equipment.
Animal Health Component
80%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
80%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1330110200090%
4030110200010%
Knowledge Area
403 - Waste Disposal, Recycling, and Reuse; 133 - Pollution Prevention and Mitigation;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
The objective of this proposal is acquisition of a microwave digester system to support the plant/soil/environmental research and student training efforts in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Alabama A&M University. Microwave digestion is the state-of-the-art technique used for sample preparation in many analytical methods involving total metals/nutrients analysis of soils, plant material, and other environmental samples. This method will replace the classical digestion method currently carried out utilizing block digesters which is time consuming, tedious, unsafe, and less efficient relative to microwave digestion method. Environmental research carried out in the department is centered on studying potential pollutants that affect agricultural soil quality, water resources as well as global climatic changes. Experiments associated with these research areas routinely utilize the acid digestion methods as a sample preparation technique. In addition, acquisition of this system will also provide opportunity for students to familiarize themselves with state-of the art techniques that will help to advance their capabilities.
Project Methods
The microwave digestion system will be utilized for sample preparation involving acid digestions for the following ongoing research projects and student training efforts in the department. Research projects: 1. Evaluation of long-term applied poultry litter waste on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus fluxes in agricultural soils; 2. Poultry litter effects on soil microbial community structure and enzyme activities of the P cycle; 3. Distribution and kinetics of heavy metals in contaminated soils; 4. Biogeochemical Indicators of Montserrat Island Volcanic ecosystems; 5. Heavy metal distribution and availability in soils; 6. Residual effects of poultry litter on succeeding corn and rye; and 7. Effects of sulfur dioxide pollution on glucosinolate levels and nutritional mineral contents in canola. Student Training - System will be utilized for group demonstration purposes in curriculum courses soil, plant and water analysis, Instrumental techniques and soil chemistry.

Progress 08/15/03 to 08/14/04

Outputs
The above grant was awarded for acquisition of a microwave digester system to support the plant/soil/environmental science research and student training efforts in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Alabama A&M University, Normal, Alabama, a historically black university (HBCU). After considering ongoing and future research requirements of the faculty and students in the department, a MARS 5 microwave digestion system with advanced safety features and high-throughput digestion capabilities was purchased from CEM Corporation, a leading microwave digestion systems manufacturing company in USA. Currently, the system is located in the Soil Chemistry laboratory in the department. User training session was provided by the company for faculty, staff, and graduate students in the department to ensure proper usage and maintenance of the equipment. This system will be used by faculty, staff, and graduate students for environmental science related research projects and for laboratory group demonstration purposes in curriculum courses such as Soil Plant and Water Analysis (SPS 570), Instrumental Techniques (SPS 505), and Soil Chemistry (SPS 460, 560, and 760). The microwave-assisted sample digestion technique will replace the conventional acid digestion method currently carried out using block digesters in the soil chemistry laboratory. The system will be utilized for sample preparation for ongoing projects in the department to study poultry litter effects on soil microbial community structure and enzyme activities of the phosphorus cycle, evaluation of long term applied poultry waste on carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes in agricultural soils, heavy metal distribution in volcanic ash and soils, and heavy metal distribution and availability in agricultural soils.

Impacts
The Microwave digestion system will replace the currently used conventional acid digestion system used in the department for digestion of soil, plant, and water samples. Microwave-assisted digestion method will assist the ongoing research in the department due to its efficiency, relatively low cost, and robustness. Thus, it will have an enormous impact on obtaining preliminary data for many environmental research projects that require sample preparation employing acid digestion methods. This will boost our efforts in obtaining future funding that will lead us to achieve our goals in developing methods to protect our soil quality, crops, and environment.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period