Method for analysis of dilute vapours in flue gases and working atmospheres

✍ Scribed by E.David Morgan; Naima Bradley

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 418 KB
• Volume: 468
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1873-3778
• DOI: 10.1016/s0021-9673(00)96328-3

✦ Synopsis

Present and forthcoming legislation to control the amount of organic substances emitted in flue gases or present in working atmospheres (e.g. laboratories) has required the development of methods for identifying and quantifying parts-per-billion (1: 10') concentrations of a wide range of substances of low and high volatility. A method is described which is applicable to all organic vapours with the exception of very-lowmass compounds. Air or gases to be analysed are passed through an absorption train, containing Tenax GC, the adsorbed organics are desorbed by heating, concentrated into a narrow band, and directly submitted to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry on a Hewlett-Packard 5970B mass selective detector. Substances ranging typically from methyl methacrylate through monoterpenes and plasticizers to nitroand halobenzenes have been determined as pg/m3 in the atmosphere or flue gases.