Hundreds of new systems and components that advance NASA's capabilities have emerged from the SBIR program. A plant technician monitors an industrial process stream to assure that the effluent water's pH level is in compliance with environmental regulations. Inc. the pH sensing system exemplifies the broad range of spinoff products emerging from the NASA Small Business Innovation Research program. An important element of such research is accurate measurement of the hydroponic culture's pH factor, an indication of the acidity or alkalinity level of a solution. The optoelectronics board supplies energy to the optrode and converts the optrode's optical signals to electrical signals.
System software provides pH display, data logging, calibration and diagnostic functions.
A typical application is monitoring the pH of an industrial process stream to assure that the pH values of the effluent discharged from the plant are within the acceptable range specified by the Environmental Protection Agency. Therefore, the pH level of a process stream must be continuously monitored to verify acceptability and, if it is not in compliance, it must be restored to the acceptable range. This development was successfully accomplished in 1995 and commercialized with the first deliveries late in that year. Used to synthesize compounds, such as pharmaceuticals, bioreactors must maintain colonies of living organisms whose density and health determine the ultimate productivity of the reactor.