Method and apparatus for determining the oxygen demand of oxidizable materials

Abstract

Abstract METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING THE OXYGEN DEMAND OF A MATERIAL CONTAINING OXIDIZABLE COMPONENTS, WHICH METHOD INVOLVES THE COMBUSTION OF A SMALL SAMPLE OF THE MATERIAL TO BE ANALYZED IN A HEATED, CONTINUOUS STREAM OF CARBON DIOXIDE, CARBON MONOXIDE PRODUCED AS THE RESULT OF COMBUSTION WITH CARBON DIOXIDE RELATES DIRECTLY TO THE TOTAL OXYGEN DEMAND (TOD) OF THE SAMPLE. HENCE, QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE COMBUSTION GASES FOR CARBON MONOXIDE YIELDS A MEASURE OF THE OXYGEN DEMAND OF THE SAMPLE. BY TOD IS MEANT THE NET OXYGEN DEMAND OF THE SAMPLE. THUS, OXYGEN DISSOLVED IN THE SAMPLE AND OTHER OXIDANT SOURCE MATERIALS CONTAINED IN THE SAMPLE LOWER THE OXYGEN DEMAND OF THE SAMPLE AS IT IS MEASURED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INVENTION. THE CARBON DIOXIDE FEED GAS PLUS THE SAMPLE ARE INTRODUCED INTO A COMBUSTION TUBE, MOISTURE IS THEN REMOVED FROM THE EFFLUENT, AND THE MOISTURE-REDUCED EFFLUENT THEN IS PASSED THROUGH A SUITABLE CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR. THE EFFLUENT THEN IS PROCESSED TO CONVERT CARBON MONOXIDE THEREIN TO CARBON DIOXIDE AND THE THUS PROCESSED EFFLUENT IS THEN PUMPED AT A CONTROLLED FLOW RATE AND IS RE-INTRODUCED TO THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER.

Inventors

• 👤 Clayton E Van Hall

Bibliographic Details