On-Site Multiple Pollutant Monitor

Major improvements in process control, compliance monitoring, and environmental decisionmaking could be made if more accurate, less costly, more rugged techniques were available for continuous monitoring of multiple gas phase pollutants. As part of the solution, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is emerging as a promising Field Analytical Method (FAM) for multiple gas monitoring. However, corrosive and particle-laden gas streams foul the optical surfaces in FT-IR extractive gas cells and seriously degrade the performance of the monitor. This leads to reduced performance, and substantial maintenance and down-time. Filtering the gas stream is not a solution because low-level concentrations of organic compound emissions will be influenced. This research project will solve the issue of gas cell optical performance degradation caused by process flows. This project will develop an advanced multi-pass gas cell for a process FT-IR analyzer that will not be fouled by corrosive gases and/or particles. Phase I will demonstrate a prototype gas cell.