Determination of chloride in water: a comparison of three methods

摘要

The presence of chloride in the water circuits of nuclear reactors, power stations and experimental rigs is undesirable because of the possibility of corrosion. Three methods are considered for the determination of chloride in water in the 0 to 10 mu g ml exp -1 range. The potentiometric method, using a silver-silver chloride electrode, is capable of determining chloride above the 0.1 mu g ml exp -1 level, with a standard deviation of 0.03 to 0.12 mu g ml exp -1 in the range 0.1 to 6.0 mu g ml exp -1 chloride. Bromide, iodide and strong reducing agents interfere but none of the cations likely to be present has an effect. The method is very susceptible to variations in temperature. The turbidimetric method involves the production of suspended silver chloride by the addition of silver nitride solution to the sample. The method is somewhat unreliable and is more useful as a rapid, routine limit-testing technique. In the third method, chloride in the sample is pre-concentrated by co-precipitation on lead phosphate, redissolved in acidified ferric nitrate solution and determined colorimetrically by the addition of mercuric thiocyanate solution. It is suitable for determining chloride in the range 0 to 50 mu g, using a sample volume of 100 to 500 ml. None of the chemical species likely to be present interferes. In all three methods, chloride contamination can occur at any point in the determination. Analyses should be carried out in conditions where airborne contamination is minimised and a high degree of cleanliness must be maintained. (Atomindex citation 10:429294)