Hyperspectral detection of petroleum impurities in soil

Technology

A spectrometer is used in the field to measure reflected radiation from soil samples over a wide  frequency range.  The resulting spectrum intensity data is analyzed and compared to a stored database and the presence of hydrocarbons in the soil is detected.

Background and Advantages

Reflectance spectrometry uses the reflective part of the electromagnetic radiation across the VIS-NIR-SWIR spectral region (350-2500nm) that illuminates the target in question and collects the reflected radiation from its surroundings. The ratio between the incident and reflected radiations across the entire spectral bands (a spectrum) holds significant chemical and  physical  information  about  the  sensed  target. For diagnosing areas suspected as contaminated and the possibility to control the rehabilitation process, there is a great need for an objective environmentally friendly method to rapidly detect low concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbon in soils. Current methods are based on chemical analysis and require acquiring samples, transportation to a laboratory and labor intensive analysis with  expensive equipment.  Our technology allows rapid in-situ measurments with standard spectrometers.

Patents

US provisional patent submitted

Project Status

Lab samples have been successfully tested

Project manager

Rona Samler
VP, BD Physical Science, Medical Device, Chemistry

Project researchers

Eyal Ben-Dor
T.A.U Tel Aviv University, Humanities
Geography

Guy Schwartz
T.A.U Tel Aviv University, Humanities
Geography