Dye tracing is a method of tracking and tracing various flows using

dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...

as a

flow tracer A flow tracer is any fluid property used to track the flow velocity (i.e., flow magnitude and direction) and circulation patterns. Tracers can be chemical properties, such as radioactive material, or chemical compounds, physical properties, s ...

when added to a

liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...

. Dye tracing may be used to analyse the flow of the liquid or the transport of objects within the liquid. Dye tracking may be either qualitative, showing the presence of a particular flow, or quantitative, when the amount of the traced dye is measured by special instruments.

Fluorescent dyes

Fluorescent dyes are often used in situations where there is insufficient lighting (e.g., sewers or cave waters), and where precise quantitative data are required (measured by a fluorometer). In 1871,

fluorescein Fluorescein is an organic compound and dye based on the xanthene tricyclic structural motif, formally belonging to Triarylmethane dye, triarylmethine dyes family. It is available as a dark orange/red powder slightly soluble in water and alcohol. ...

was among the first fluorescent dyes to be developed. Its disodium salt (under the trademark " uranine") was developed several years later and still remains among the best tracer dyes.An educational website about karst and dye tracing
by Crawford Hydrology Laboratory / Center for Cave and Karst Study in association with

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

Other popular tracer dyes are

rhodamine Rhodamine is a family of related dyes, a subset of the triarylmethane dyes. They are derivatives of xanthene. Important members of the rhodamine family are rhodamine 6G, Rhodamin WT, Texas Red (Sulforhodamin 101), rhodamine 123, and rhod ...

pyranine Pyranine is a hydrophilic, pH-sensitive fluorescent dye from the group of chemicals known as arylsulfonates. Pyranine is soluble in water and is used as a coloring agent, biological stain, optical detecting reagent, and pH indicator. Pyranine is a ...

and

sulforhodamine B Sulforhodamine B or Kiton Red 620 ( C27 H30 N2 O7 S2) is a fluorescent dye with uses spanning from laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) to the quantification of cellular proteins of cultured cells. This red solid dye is very water-soluble. Spectr ...

Quantitative tracing

Carbon sampling was the first method of technology-assisted dye tracing that was based on the absorption of dye in

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

. Charcoal packets may be placed along the expected route of the flow, later the collected dye may be chemically extracted and its amount subjectively evaluated. Filter fluorometers were the first devices that could detect dye concentrations beyond

human eye The human eye is a sensory organ in the visual system that reacts to light, visible light allowing eyesight. Other functions include maintaining the circadian rhythm, and Balance (ability), keeping balance. The eye can be considered as a living ...

sensitivity. Spectrofluorometers, developed in the mid-1980s, made it possible to perform advanced analysis of fluorescence. Filter fluorometers and spectrofluorometers identify the intensity of fluorescence that is present in a liquid sample. Different dyes and chemicals produce a distinctive wavelength that is determined during analysis.

Tracing methods

Each sampling area is analysed by a quantitative instrument to test the background fluorescence. Each different type of dye has significant performance factors that distinguish them in different environments. These performance factors include: *Resistance to absorption *Surface water loss *Limitations of use in acidic waters Depending on the environment, water flows possess certain factors that can affect how a dye performs. Natural fluorescence in a water flow can interfere with certain dyes. The presence of organic material, other chemicals, and sunlight can affect the intensity of dyes.

Applications

Water tracing

Typical applications of

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

flow tracing include:Water Tracing Dye Technical Bulletin
*

Plumbing Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses piping, pipes, valves, piping and plumbing fitting, plumbing fixtures, Storage tank, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. HVAC, Heating and co ...

piping Within industry, piping is a system of pipes used to convey fluids (liquids and gases) from one location to another. The engineering discipline of piping design studies the efficient transport of fluid. Industrial process piping (and accomp ...

tracing *Leak detection *Checking for illegal tapping *

Pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

studies *Natural waterflow analysis (

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

ocean current An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of seawater generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours, sh ...

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

waterflows,

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

studies,

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

filtration, etc.) * Sewer and

stormwater Stormwater, also written storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed lan ...

drainage analysis

Medicine and biology

Dye tracing may be used for the analysis of

blood circulation In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart an ...

within various parts of the human or animal body. For example, fluorescent angiography, a technique of analysis of circulation in

retina The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...

is used for diagnosing various eye diseases. With modern fluorometers, capable of tracking single fluorescent molecules, it is possible to track migrations of single cells tagged by a fluorescent molecule (see fluorescein in biological research). For example, the fluorescent-activated cell sorting in

flow cytometry Flow cytometry (FC) is a technique used to detect and measure the physical and chemical characteristics of a population of cells or particles. In this process, a sample containing cells or particles is suspended in a fluid and injected into the ...

makes it possible to sort out the cells with attached fluorescent molecules from a flow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dye Tracing Dyes Data collection Hydrology