Microsoft word - report-3 fase 2.doc

PUERTO RICO WATER RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL
Date of the report: December 2nd , 2005
For Quarter Ending: December, 2005
Project Tittle: ‘Removal of Inorganic, Organic and Antimicrobials Contaminants from Aqueous
Solutions by Waste Tire Crumb Rubber’
Name of Contact (PI): Oscar Perales-Perez
Telephone: 1-787-8324040 (3087) Fax: 1-787-265-8016
E-mail: oscar@ge.uprm.edu
Names of Co-PI’s: Felix Roman, Marco A. Arocha
Percentage of work completed in this period (%): 40%
Accumulative Percentage of work completed (%): 65%
Completion Date: February 28th, 2006
Project status: Schedule ___ Suspended _X__ Delayed ___ Cancelled ___ Completed
Activities progress: (according to work schedule submitted with application)
Estimated
Dependant
Activity
started Completed
Completed
on task(s)
completion
Summary of Progress on Project this Quarter: The progress can be summarized as follows
 New tests on the chemical stability of crumb rubber as a function of particle size and pHs were completed. Preliminary results suggested that crumb rubber will not pollute aqueous solutions with inorganics or organic species.  Verification of the reproducibility of the sorption tests with Xylene  Completion of the sorption tests with Toluene.  Completion of sorption tests with Etilbencene.  Continuation of sorption tests with Tetracycline at different pHs. Preliminary results suggest the sorption of tetracycline although there are still some problems related to the reproducibility of the results due to the high concentrations of tetracycline solutions.  A new undergraduate student, from Civil Engineering will join the research group starting in  The first drafts on sorption of inorganics (F. Calisir, O. Perales) and organic solvents (L. Alamo, F. Roman) are being completed with more recent data.  Presentation at the Senior-ACS Conference, November, 2005, La Parguera, Puerto Rico  Presentation at the last AIDIS Conference, September 30th 2005, Isla Verde, Puerto Rico).  The Interamerican Society of Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (AIDIS) awarded the First Prize on Research to the work: “Remoción de BTEX por Partículas de
Goma Recicladas en Soluciones Acuosas”, presented by UPRM-PRWRERI last September
2005.
 Recently, the Waste Management Authority (ADS) awarded $140,000 for the acquisition of major instrumental equipment. The grant is for instrumentation only. The instrumentation to be purchased will allow us to analyze concentration at the parts per billion (ppb) levels, as required for studies on mercury and arsenic (these two species are addressed in the present proposal as a complement to our studies on heavy metals).
Problems encountered and/or assistance need:
 Although the HPLC/GC-MS methods for tetracycline were standardized, it works only for highly concentrated solutions (above 50ppm).  In order to be able to evaluate the sorption behavior at more dilute tetracycline concentrations (<10ppm) a direct measurement by GC-MS must be considered. The corresponding adaptations for these direct analyses are being attempted.
Certifications:
As the Principal Investigator, I certify that the information contained within this quarterly report
accurately reflects the status of this project.

Dr Oscar Perales-Perez, PI December 2nd , 2005 Associate Professor

Source: http://prwreri.uprm.edu/Projects/Files/Dec05.pdf