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EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL VOC SCREENING INSTRUMENTS
Citation:
Menzies, K. AND R. Fasano. EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL VOC SCREENING INSTRUMENTS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/7-82/063.
Description:
The report describes the evaluation of potential fugitive source emission screening instruments for analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). An initial review of available portable VOC detection instruments indicated that detectors operating on several principles (i.e., flame ionization, catalytic combustion, photoionization, infrared absorption, and thermal conductivity) might be useful for VOC analysis. However, flame ionization and catalytic combustion devices evaluated previously showed poor sensitivity for highly substituted aliphatic and aromatic organic compounds. Instruments utilizing photoionization and infrared may be able to meet necessary criteria for practical and accurate VOC analysis of highly substituted organics. Therefore, three commercially available instruments (i.e., HNU PI-101, AID 580, and Foxboro Miran 80) were modified and evaluated for 32 such compounds in concentrations of 100-10,000 ppmv. Results show that photoionization may be suitable for general VOC screening, but a reliable instrument/dilution system does not exist. Infrared absorption will apparently not provide suitable general VOC screening, but may be useful for analyzing some classes of organic compounds.