Midwest Research Institute

Paul G Gorman

Brian R Cage

Michael F Fischer

John E Going

Carroll E Ball

David H Steele

Daniel R Soderberg

Michael J Thornburg

A continuous emission monitoring system is disclosed for detecting toxic substances of various types in either stack gas or ambient air. Particular systems are illustrated for monitoring lewisite and chromium(VI). Each system employs a gas sampler that utilizes a high-volume, wet cyclone concentrator unit which scrubs the contaminants from the gas into water or another suitable scrubbing solution. In-line chemical processing of the contaminated sample thus obtained is accomplished either within the sampling unit or by an external chemistry processing module. After processing to provide an analyte in the sample indicative of the presence of a predetermined contaminant, the sample stream is delivered to an ion chromatograph or other analyzer to determine the presence and quantity of the analyte and indicate whether a danger level has been reached. This provides monitoring on an essentially real-time or near real-time basis.

Continuous emission monitoring system

Dissolved components of a liquid sample are recovered for analysis by delivering the sample to a concentrator comprising a cylindrical receptacle into which an uncontaminated gas, such as air, is introduced in a direction tangentially of the cylindrical wall. The gas is under sufficient pressure to effect swirling of the gas and liquid sample and atomization of the sample to rapidly evaporate the same and cause a residue containing the dissolved components to be deposited on the interior surface of the wall. A reconstituting solvent is then admitted to the receptacle to dissolve the residue and provide a reconstituted, concentrated sample for analysis. If desired, the sample may be concentrated to a given volume rather than to complete dryness. In nonlaboratory applications, a dilute liquid substance may be processed by rapid evaporation to provide a final product of desired concentration.

Rapid evaporation method for analysis

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Prairie Village, KS, United States of America

Paul G Gorman