First Experimental Characterization of Microwave Emission from Cosmic Ray Air Showers.

We report the first direct measurement of the overall characteristics of microwave radio emission from extensive air showers. Using a trigger provided by the KASCADE-Grande air shower array, the signals of the microwave antennas of the Cosmic-Ray Observation via Microwave Emission experiment have been read out and searched for signatures of radio emission by high-energy air showers in the GHz frequency range. Microwave signals have been detected for more than 30 showers with energies above 3×10^{16}  eV.

Online elemental analysis of process gases with ICP-OES: a case study on waste wood combustion.

A mobile sampling and measurement system for the analysis of gaseous and liquid samples in the field was developed. An inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), which is built into a van, was used as detector. The analytical system was calibrated with liquid and/or gaseous standards.

Kneelike structure in the spectrum of the heavy component of cosmic rays observed with KASCADE-Grande.

We report the observation of a steepening in the cosmic ray energy spectrum of heavy primary particles at about 8×10(16) eV. This structure is also seen in the all-particle energy spectrum, but is less significant. Whereas the "knee" of the cosmic ray spectrum at 3-5×10(15) eV was assigned to light primary masses by the KASCADE experiment, the new structure found by the KASCADE-Grande experiment is caused by heavy primaries.

Measuring evaporation rates of metal compounds from solid samples.

A thermogravimeter (TGA, Mettler-Toledo TGA/SDTA851e) was connected to an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES, Varian Liberty 110) using a condensation interface (CI), which transforms gaseous high-boiling-temperature substances into solid (or liquid) aerosols. Argon was used as the carrier gas to transfer the aerosols into the ICP-OES for on-line elemental analysis. This new analytical TGA-CI-ICP-OES device, called TGA-ICP, is the first of its kind and allows one to study the thermochemically induced evaporation behavior of high-boiling-temperature substances, such as heavy metal compounds, under different thermochemical conditions.

Heavy metal partitioning from electronic scrap during thermal End-of-Life treatment.

Samples of identical Printed Wiring Board Assemblies (PWBA) have been thermally treated in a Quartz Tube Reactor (QTR) in order to detect the volatility of selected heavy metals contained in electronic scrap being of environmental concern. In preparation, evaporation experiments were performed using a Thermo Gravimeter (TG) in connection with an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emissions Spectrometer (ICP-OES). The QTR experiments were performed under reducing and under oxidising conditions at 550 and at 880 degrees C.