3D Printing Technology and Innovations

Biography

Biography: A Errachid

Abstract

Sewage epidemiology has been proven to be a powerful tool to profile a community’s behaviour both in large and small areas. Conventional wastewater analysis is based on manually taken samples, subsequent transport to a specialized lab environment and analysis within a certain period of time. However, due to the high logistic efforts, sampling intervals are usually rather long and can hardly be carried out spontaneously or out of a well-planned sampling campaign. Therefore, automated sampling devices are becoming popular nowadays, as they can be placed on-site in a single operation and be in stand-by mode during long periods of times waiting to be triggered by a predefined sampling protocol. In this context, we report on a miniaturized, low-cost, easy-to-operate and low-power consumption microfluidic automated sampler for sporadic sample collection. The device uses a piezoelectric micropump and three miniaturized electro-valves that are assembled in a 3D-printed microfluidic manifold. Up to three samples can be stored in a 3D-printed single manifold that contains three 2.3 mL reservoirs connected to main body of the device. Moreover, the automated sampler can be remote controlled using a customized control board that enables to trigger the system and set a desired flow rate and time of sampling. Furthermore, its low-power- consumption feature enables the device to be powered through a lithium battery. All these qualities make the automated sample device to be very useful for applications where one or several sporadic samples must be taken in poor accessible environments such as the sewer network without the need of personal presence during the sampling event.