화학공학소재연구정보센터
Combustion Science and Technology, Vol.134, No.1-6, 103-126, 1998
Toward development of a laser-based continuous emission monitor system for toxic metals in off-gases
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometry (LIBS) can meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rules requirements for Be, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Sb. However, LIES' current limits of detection (LODs) for As and Hg are significantly higher than the LODs that EPA is seeking. The current Laser Optogalvanic Spectrometry (LOGS) laboratory LODs for airborne metal particles are comparable to or lower than the desired EPA MACT LODs for Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, and Sb. We report our efforts to combine LOGS with LIES to produce a near real-time metal emissions monitor that is capable of monitoring the volatile toxic metals that are regulated by EPA. During a field simulation test, LIES, LOGS, and EPA Method 29 simultaneously determined the concentration of airborne metals in the off-gas. The LIES results are found to be in reasonably good agreement with those of EPA Method 29. The LOGS real-time determinations were higher than those reported by either LIES or EPA Method 29; this discrepancy is due (a) to a spectral interference with a two-photon sodium transition, and (b) to oversampling of large particles.