I'm trying to find some portable analyzing equipment for obtaining real time voc concentrations (think method 25 and 25a testing).
What I'm wanting to do with the equipment is to analyze the condition of various types of pollution abatement equipment: regenerative thermal oxidizers, catalyst units, concentrators, etc ...
I'd like to get real time analysis of voc concentrations going into and out of this equipment. If possible I'd like to also be able to get an understanding of how well the burner(s) are operating (I believe that would be through obtaining the methane levels, though there is the issue of nox and sox to consider as well). However, my primary concern is with the voc's. Second is methane, third is nox/sox.
There seems to be so many different pieces of equipment by so many different manufacturers... I'm stumped..
Any help would be greatly appreciated...
I am a former Industrial Hygienist - our meat n spuds was taking air samples to determine contaminant concentrations in WORKPLACE air. You are doing this in either combustion equipment or air treatment equipment - completely different ballgame.
In either one the amount of equipment can be mind boggling no doubt about it - and oh boy wait till you see the price tag.
I do not pretend to be any great expert on the environmental stuff -what are method 25 and 25a? I know just enough to be dangerous and yet ask good questions.
The FIRST thing to do is some studying to determine what is in your waste streams that are regulated and what are NOT regulated by EPA. The other thing to check on is what is regulated by OSHA, NIOSH and American Council of Governmental Industrial Hygienists for workplace employee exposure - including your maintenance guys. I supported Facilities crews in both safety and industrial hygiene so I know the difficulties they impose and incur.
2. Contact local air pollution group and or EPA and get the sampling methodology. If you are going to do any sampling you may as well have it meet the requirements. It may be you are gonna have to do it anyway. You may already have done enough.
3. For combustion equipment I would contact a boiler outfit to bring out a stack gas analysis rig to determine correct combustion efficiency. Measuring efficiency is generally done by CO2 CO and excess oxygen - not by fuel - the fuel is supposed to be completely consumed. They may have unit for Nox'es.
4. For quick n dirty sampling consider colorometric indicating tubes. These are made by Draeger and several others. Grainger may stock them. There are around 1 to 200 compounds they can measure. The advantage of these is that the tubes themselves are low cost (5 to 10 each), very portable, give you a quick idea of what you have. The downside to these is the pump cost (around 300) you have to refrigerate tubes, they have a definite shelf life, you GOTTA read the directions, they can be easily affected by other air contaminants, you cannot use these for making long term measurements - they are only good for that minute you took the reading and under the conditions at the time.
5. If you have an inhouse chem lab see how much support they can give you. For government required sampling you will probably have to have a certified lab.
There is no simple answer to this from an instrumentation standpoint there is no one size fits all wrench and it is a difficult subject to handle. With money, dedication and time it is something you can learn and do well.
PM me if you want to get into details especially so if any involve trade secrets or legal liability.
Dan Bentler
