COGRAD is a 115 m2 state-of-the-art analytical facility located on the University of Manitoba campus. The Centre is equipped with some of the newest analytical instrumentation currently available including:
– Agilent’s gas chromatograph triple quadrupole mass spectrometer
– LECO’s two dimensional gas chromatograph high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer
– Applied Biosystems liquid chromatograph triple quadrupole mass spectrometer
– Thermo Scientific’s Accelerated Solvent Extractor
– J2’s Automated Gel Permeation Chromatography
The newly acquired analytical instrumentation will be used to support environmental monitoring obligations of our clients and to advance the environmental monitoring and R&D activities of the Centre. Furthermore, lower analytical detection limits are now achievable for toxicologically important oil components including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their alkylated analogues.
COGRAD is accredited through Standards Council of Canada (SCC) under Environmental Testing (ET) and Test Method Development and Evaluation and Non-Routine Testing (TMDNRT) Program specialty areas in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
Description of Activities for which COGRAD is accredited includes:
1. Modification, improvement and validation of published or existing test methodology for the screening and determination of chemical residues and contaminants relevant to Oil and Gas industry.
2. Development and validation of new testing methodology for the screening and determination of chemical residues and contaminants relevant to Oil and Gas industry.
3. Development and validation of mass spectral techniques for the confirmation of the identity of chemical residues and contaminants relevant to Oil and Gas industry.
4. Screening, determination and confirmation of the identity of chemical residues and contaminants relevant to Oil and Gas industry for non-routine purposes.
COGRAD’s detailed scope of accreditation can be found here: https://www.scc.ca/en/search/laboratories/COGRAD
Another innovative priority of COGRaD will be the design of a new media for both environmental site-remediation in the event of an accidental spill and passive-based samplers for long-term monitoring that are inexpensive and efficient. The media will be based on proteinaceous right-hand coiled nanotubes shown to strongly retain compounds present in crude oil mixtures like PAHs.
COGRAD 