Gets a measure of many gases
November 1st 2009

EURO Environmental Services in Ireland needs to measure a range of gases across a broad spectrum of temperature and moisture contents, and works with a large number of abatement techniques.A Gasmet FTIR multiparameter gas analyser is proving a useful addition

With headquarters in Drogheda in Ireland, EURO Environmental Services provides a range of testing, management and research projects in air, soil, water and waste, helping businesses to comply with environmental regulations.

The company's stack testing teams were the first to receive MCERTS accreditation in Ireland and now provide testing and monitoring services across the UK and Ireland.

Quantitech has supplied the company with a transportable Gasmet FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectrometer) multiparameter gas analyser.

Geoff Fitzpatrick, MD of EURO Environmental Services, says, "We have a large customer base spread across a wide range of industries including those with complex emissions such as thermal oxidisers, waste incinerators, pharmaceutical and combustion plants.We need to be able to measure a wide range of gases, across a broad selection of temperature and moisture contents, working with a large number of abatement techniques.

"It follows therefore, that we need reliable, accurate transportable technology that is sufficiently flexible to be able to accommodate such a wide range of applications. The FTIR from Quantitech fulfils that need." The device can measure any gas, with the exception of Noble gases, homonuclear diatomic gases, such as N2, Cl2, H2, F2, and H2S (detection limit too high). As a multicomponent gas analyser, it is suitable for customers who need to: analyse several components; analyse hot/wet gas (eg hot humid applications for HCN, NH3 or HCl); or analyse any gas in complicated gas mixtures.

Quantitech's Dominic Duggan says the FTIR is extremely easy to operate. "Zero point calibration with Nitrogen (background) just takes a few minutes and is required once a day.Water vapour calibration must be performed after every major maintenance operation and at least once per year. Under normal circumstances no other calibration is required which saves our customers a great deal of time, effort and money." "Absorptivity is a physical constant specific to each gas, and the reference spectra (or calibrations) can be transferred from analyser to analyser. As a consequence we are able to add measurement parameters to installed CEMS as and when required.We can even analyse old recorded spectra in order to calculate concentrations of gases that were not initially required, which means that this instrument is often labelled as 'future-proof '."

Reference library The Gasmet library of reference spectra consists of reference files of gas spectra measured to date with different Gasmet gas analysers. The library contains hundreds of spectra and each reference spectrum contains both quantitative and qualitative information about the component.

High levels of accuracy and low levels of maintenance are achieved as a result of continuous calibration with a He-Ne laser, which provides a stable wavenumber scale.

In addition, high spectral signal to noise ratio and high wavenumber precision are characteristic of the FTIR method. This yields high analytical sensitivity, accuracy and precision.

The FTIR system used by EURO Environmental Services is a portable system; however a fixed continuous emissions monitor is also available for process operators that require permanently installed monitoring equipment. Both versions employ the same technology, which Duggan believes to be an advantage because data from the portable version are directly comparable to the fixed system.

Geoff Fitzpatrick adds "In recent months we have employed the new monitoring equipment frequently and we are constantly finding new ways to exploit the power of the FTIR technology. It has been much easier to operate than wet chemistry and I believe that FTIR is the way forward in emissions monitoring.We anticipate a requirement for further instruments in the near future."

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