Saturday, February 14, 2009
Week 3 - Friday
Today was a short day. It took the morning to bring the GC back online. Adama, Anna, and I were the only ones that came in today. We checked the rotovaps to make sure they were in working condition. They worked just fine, but some replacement parts will probably be needed soon. We also tested the N2 blow-down module. This took a long time to do that since we had to find another gas regulator that worked. So far we have not located any GC-grade hexanes in Senegal yet. They are expecting some soon at one location but it seems as if they really don't know any details beyond that. I ran out of time today and will pursue this more in depth on Monday. Baba knows of our need for high purity hexanes and it being essential for the success of this project.
Week 3 - Wednesday and Thursday (deployment)
Before we left, Adama and I went over the deployment benchsheets. Anna, Adama, the driver and I left mid-day and picked up Marie along the way. We did not have enough time on Wednesday to visit the sampling sites so we did everything on Thursday.
We were only able to find 3 sites to deploy at. Two sites were the same as when Greg was here (the inlet and outlet). The two sites in the irrigation canal that Greg sampled in were dry due to one of the pumps being broken. The third site we sampled was at some other canal that had water in it. It was very stagnant water though. Pictures of the three sites are listed below. I also included a picture of the dry land around the old dried up
sites.
Photo 1: Us at the first sampling site (drainage pump station). From left to right; Me (Lucas), Adama, Marie, Anna.
Photo 2, Site 1: The pump station. Evidence of fishing practices were obvious. There were also plenty of fish present. People were seen near by fetching water.
Photo 3, Site 2: In the adjacent river near the other pump station. 1.5 to 2 m deep. People and livestock were observed either drinking, fetching water, or washing their clothes.
Photo 4, Site 3: A stagnant canal, one of the few other places with any water. It was about 1 m deep. This area seemed to be a well travel route so we hid the rope lines near the bridge/culvert that the picture was taken from.
Photo 5: This is adjacent to the old middle sites that Greg sampled. As you can tell it is very dry.
We were only able to find 3 sites to deploy at. Two sites were the same as when Greg was here (the inlet and outlet). The two sites in the irrigation canal that Greg sampled in were dry due to one of the pumps being broken. The third site we sampled was at some other canal that had water in it. It was very stagnant water though. Pictures of the three sites are listed below. I also included a picture of the dry land around the old dried up
sites.Photo 1: Us at the first sampling site (drainage pump station). From left to right; Me (Lucas), Adama, Marie, Anna.
Photo 2, Site 1: The pump station. Evidence of fishing practices were obvious. There were also plenty of fish present. People were seen near by fetching water.
Photo 3, Site 2: In the adjacent river near the other pump station. 1.5 to 2 m deep. People and livestock were observed either drinking, fetching water, or washing their clothes.Photo 4, Site 3: A stagnant canal, one of the few other places with any water. It was about 1 m deep. This area seemed to be a well travel route so we hid the rope lines near the bridge/culvert that the picture was taken from.
Photo 5: This is adjacent to the old middle sites that Greg sampled. As you can tell it is very dry.
Week 3 - Tuesday
Today we (Adama, Marie, Anna, Vieux, and I) spiked LFT and finished their construction for the upcoming field deployment on Thursday.
We (same people) had to do some sanding of the spiders. Some of the edges were sharp and could easily cut through LFT and skin. After this we cleaned the spiders with detergent; soaking and scrubbing them, then thoroughly rinsing them with tap water. We further cleaned the spiders by submersion and agitation in acetone then hexanes and were left to dry. Once dry the spiders were packaged in clean plastic bags.
I installed new liners for the GC inlet, removing some of the glass wool prior to installation. I also changed out the gold seals and snugged up all the column connections. The new liners seem only to make the multiple peak problem worse, especially for the front detector. At the end of the day I cooled and shut down the GC. The recent power failures led to this decision. I did not want the GC turning off hot while we were in the field. (Anna and Adama were present for most of the GC troubleshooting)
We also gathered more materials for the trip to the field.
We (same people) had to do some sanding of the spiders. Some of the edges were sharp and could easily cut through LFT and skin. After this we cleaned the spiders with detergent; soaking and scrubbing them, then thoroughly rinsing them with tap water. We further cleaned the spiders by submersion and agitation in acetone then hexanes and were left to dry. Once dry the spiders were packaged in clean plastic bags.
I installed new liners for the GC inlet, removing some of the glass wool prior to installation. I also changed out the gold seals and snugged up all the column connections. The new liners seem only to make the multiple peak problem worse, especially for the front detector. At the end of the day I cooled and shut down the GC. The recent power failures led to this decision. I did not want the GC turning off hot while we were in the field. (Anna and Adama were present for most of the GC troubleshooting)
We also gathered more materials for the trip to the field.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Week 3 - Monday
I was paid a visit today by a couple of gentleman by the names of Jeff, Paul, Bill, Hama, and Makhfousse. I accompanied them during their visit until about 1:oo or so when they left.
The retrieval has to be pushed back to Wednesday/Thursday. 32 complete cages have arrived and are in need of cleaning due to all the oil more than likely used in their manufacture. 3 spiders however were made way too small and had to be retrofitted....which the blacksmith did today and we received them shortly before the end of the day. Today we cleaned/scrubbed the cages with Alconox and tap water. Tomorrow we will do the same for the spiders but also we'll do a quick solvent rinse of them since we have no oven.
We had a problem with PRC mix on the GC, mainly with dibutylchlorendate. After some discussion with Jeff Jenkins we think it may be degrading in the inlet. We are seeing consistently two peaks even when we shoot dibutylchlorendate singly. This second peak does not show up in any of our solvent or air injections. I have a few things to try tomorrow to get to heart of this problem.
The retrieval has to be pushed back to Wednesday/Thursday. 32 complete cages have arrived and are in need of cleaning due to all the oil more than likely used in their manufacture. 3 spiders however were made way too small and had to be retrofitted....which the blacksmith did today and we received them shortly before the end of the day. Today we cleaned/scrubbed the cages with Alconox and tap water. Tomorrow we will do the same for the spiders but also we'll do a quick solvent rinse of them since we have no oven.
We had a problem with PRC mix on the GC, mainly with dibutylchlorendate. After some discussion with Jeff Jenkins we think it may be degrading in the inlet. We are seeing consistently two peaks even when we shoot dibutylchlorendate singly. This second peak does not show up in any of our solvent or air injections. I have a few things to try tomorrow to get to heart of this problem.