Automated alkalinity sensing system

Ocean Acidification is a reduction in pH caused by the absorption of atmospheric CO2. Low pH decreases the availability of calcium carbonate to shell and skeleton secreting marine animals such as mollusks and corals reducing their growth rates and even causing death. Thus, monitoring oceanic conditions has become more and more important, in particular there is a need for extensive measurements of carbonate chemistry parameters over both space and time. This paper presents a low-cost, automated benchtop measuring system for total alkalinity, one of the important parameters for monitoring marine carbonate chemistry. This system addresses the need for a low-cost alkalinity sensing system that can be deployed in great numbers to provide the large data sets needed for to measure and predict the impact of ocean acidification on the marine ecosystem. It is based on a two-point acid titration method. Tests of the prototype have shown that the system gives acceptable results comparable to manual measurements. With hermetic repackaging, the system could be field deployed on platforms such as AUVs or buoys.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Wang, Yiou,S.M.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Michael S Triantafyllou.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122239

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122239