IH Equipment Flashcards
What are common PID applications?
- Hazardous waste monitoring to determine proper PPE
- Soil remediation from leaking underground storage tanks
- Oil refineries - VOC and benzene monitoring
- Aircraft - maintenance monitoring (jet fuel)
- Fire industry - arson and meth lab investigation
- Oil / chemical tankers
- Confined space entry
- Fenceline monitoring
- Indoor air quality ppb level and odor detection
What is HPLC used for?
Large molecules - PCBs, herbicides, insecticides, phthalates, isocyanates, formaldehyde
Way to remember: P for pesticides, PCBs, phthalates
What compounds are good for silica gel solid adsorbent?
- alcohols
- phenols
- amines
What can be sampled with activated charcoal?
- Chlorinated hydrocarbons
- Glycol ethers
- Alcohol
- Most hydrocarbons
- Ester
- Ethers
What are FIDs good at detecting
- Aromatic hydrocarbons
- Moderately to chlorinated hydrocarbons
- Organic chemicals
- Low sensitivity to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide
What do FIDs respond poorly to?
- Short chained alcohols
- Can’t detect formaldehyde
What can’t PIDs measure?
- Components of air (O2, N2, CO2, H2O)
- Common toxics (CO, HCN, SO2)
- Natural gas (methane and ethane)
- Acid gases (HCl, HF, HNO3, etc.)
What are PIDs good at detecting?
Hydrocarbons. Common hydrocarbons include acetone, ethanol, toluene, butanol, formaldehyde, methylene chloride.
- Aromatics (benzene, toluene, xylene)
- Alkyl iodides, bromides
- Double-bonded compounds
- Organic amines (methylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine..)
- Sulfides, and mercaptans
- Ketones, ethers, and silicates
What is atomic emission spectroscopy good at analyzing?
Trace elements, metals
What chemicals are detected by an FID?
A. Heavy metals
B. Aromatic hydrocarbons
C. Oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide
D. Radon and other radioactive gasses
B. Aromatic hydrocarbons
Propyl alcohol has an ionization potential of 10.15 eV. Can this be detected with a PID? What needs to be done to ensure detection?
A. Yes. Be sure to set the sampling rate greater than 2 liters per minute
B. Yes. Be sure to set the sampling rate less than 2 liters per minute
C. Yes. Be sure to use a lamp with an energy level greater than 10.15 eV.
D. No.
C. Yes. Be sure to use a lamp with an energy level greater than 10.15 eV.
What is the best method for sampling ammonia?
A. Silica gel tube with a sampling pump analyzed by gas chromatography.
B. Flame Ionization Device with data logging capability
C. MCE filter analyzed atomic emission spectroscopy.
D. Silica gel tube analyzed using ion chromatography.
D. Silica gel tube analyzed using ion chromatography.
What is the best method for sampling heavy metals in welding fumes?
A. Silica gel tube with a sampling pump analyzed by gas chromatography.
B. Flame Ionization Device with data logging capability
C. MCE filter analyzed atomic emission spectroscopy.
D. Silica gel tube analyzed using atomic absorption.
C. MCE filter analyzed atomic emission spectroscopy.
Which method is commonly used to analyze isocyanates?
A. HPLC with Fluorescence detector
B. XRF
C. Gravimetric
D. Ion Chromatography
A. HPLC with Fluorescence detector
Which substance might be analyzed using atomic absorption?
A. DDT
B. Lead
C. Polychlorinated biphenyls
D. Xylene
B. Lead
Which substance might be analyzed using gas chromatography?
A. 1,3 Dichlorobenzene
B. Asbestos
C. Cadmium
D. Crystalline silica
A. 1,3 Dichlorobenzene
What is HPLC used for?
PCBs, herbicides, insecticides, phthalates, isocyanates
Way to remember: P for pesticides, PCBs, phthalates
What can you analyze with an XRF
Elements in solids and liquids - commonly used for lead
What is normally analyzed with gas chromatography?
Hydrocarbons
What can’t be analyzed by gas chromatography?
- Compounds that do not vaporize: inorganic metals, ions, salts
- Highly reactive compounds and chemically unstable compounds: hydrofluoric acid and other strong acids, NOX
- These are difficult to analyze: high adsorptive compounds: compounds containing a carboxyl group, hydroxyl group, amino group, or sulfur
Mercury vapor would be best adsorbed by:
Activated charcoal with iodine
Mercury vapor could revolatilize from activated charcoal alone. When iodine is present the mercury is converted to Hg2I2 or HgI2 (not volatile).
What is the best adsorbent for most organic vapors that have boiling points above 0° C?
Charcoal - it’s non-polar nature allows for the preferential adsorption of organic vapors in relation to atmosphere moisture
The preferred method of sampling for benzene is… (sampler)
Activated charcoal tube
Photometer basics
- Direct read instrument
- Realtime measure of particulate matter concentrations
- Light diffracted from particle
Vertical elutriator
- Particles with terminal settling velocity greater than air velocity are trapped
- Used in textile mills for cotton dust sampling
Horizontal elutriator
- Particles settle out as air passes between two plates
Elutriator
Particle settle out in laminar flow
What devices can be used to sample semi-volatiles?
Impinger or denuder
Denuder
Denuder = diffuse
- Materials diffuse to walls or screen
- Vapors from particle/gas mixture
- Walls are coated with materials to absorb gases
Impinger
- Sample drawn through liquid, and gas is absorbed in liquid
- Liquid analyzed in lab
- Must know airflow
What is activated charcoal desorbed with?
CS2
What can activated charcoal sample?
- Glycol Ethers
- Alcohol
- Most hydrocarbons
- Ester
- Ethers
- Chlorinated hydrocarbons
What can silica get sample?
- Polar compounds
- Alcohols
- Amines
- Phenols
Is silica gel hydrophobic or hydrophillic?
Hydrophillic
Things that can lead to breakthrough
- High humidity
- High temperature
- High flow rates
- Concentration too high
- Migration of chemicals
- Channeling
- Competition of sites on adsorbent w other chemicals
What law does diffusion works by?
Fick’s law
What increases sampling rate of passive dosimeters?
Large area and short path length
What law do infrared analyzers use?
Beer’s law
