Infrared Analysis Reduces Testing Costs and Provides Fast Results

摘要

Wastewater professionals who are enforcing industrial effluent standards for fats, oil and grease (FOG) either must perform numerous gravimetric tests or spend a considerable amount of money with a contracted testing laboratory. Infrared analysis provides an alternative which will significantly reduce costs and save time in the following ways: When using EPA method 1664, a liter sample requires 100 ml of hexane for the extraction. The amount of solvent cannot be reduced with this method as the weight of the residual oil would be so low it would be less accurate for lower levels of oil and grease. With the hexane/infrared extraction method, only 50 μm of extract are required for analysis and the sample size can be reduced to 100 ml for a fairly well mixed waste stream. This 100 ml volume only requires 10 ml of hexane for the extraction. In addition to a cost savings, reduced solvent usage means less exposure to solvent fumes for the operator and less volatile fumes as a potential fire hazard.