Organic carbon method and analyzer

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC DETERMINATION OF TOTAL ORGANIC CARBON IN AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A CARRIER GAS SUPPLY SOURCE, A HYDROGEN GAS SUPPLY SOURCE A FIRST AUTOMATIC INJECTION MEANS FOR INTRODUCING A FIRST REACTIO OUS SOLUTION SAMPLE AND SAID CARRIER GAS TO A FIRST REACTION CHAMBER CONTAINING A CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE BODY FOR PRODUCING CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE WATER AND THE TOTAL CARBON CONTENT OF SAID AQUEOUS SOLUTION, SECOND AUTOMATIC INJECTION MEANS FOR INTRODUCING A SECOND AQUEOUS SOLUTION SAMPLE AND SAID CARRIER GAS TO A SECOND REACTION CHAMBER CONTAINING A CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE BODY FOR PRODUCING CARBON DIOXIDE FROM THE WATER AND THE INORGANIC CARBON CONTENT OF SAID AQUEOUS SOLUTION, MEANS FOR HEATING SAID FIRST AND SECOND REACTION CHAMBERS, MEANS FOR SEPARATELY PASSING EACH OF SAID REACTION CHAMBER''S EFFLUENT GASEOUS PRODUCTS AND HYDROGEN GAS INTO A METHANIZER CHAMBER CONTAINING A CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE NICKEL BODY FOR PRODUCING METHANE BY THE REDUCTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE PRESENCE OF HYDROGEN, HEATING MEANS LOCATED UPSTREAM TO THE ENTRANCE OF SAID METHANIZER CHAMBER FOR PREHEATING EACH OF THE SAID EFFLUENT GASEOUS STREAMS PRIOR TO THEIR ENTERING INTO SAID METHANIZER CHAMBER TO A TEMPERATURE SUFFICIENT TO SUBSTANTIALLY MAINTAIN LIQUID WATER THEREIN IN A VAPOR STATE MEANS FOR HEATING SAID METHANIZER CHAMBER, PASSAGE MEANS FROM SAID METHANIZER CHAMBER TO DETECTION MEANS SENSITIZED TO BE RESPONSIVE TO METHANE AND TO PRODUCE SEPARATE INDICIA REPRESENTATIVE OF THE TOTAL CARBON AND INORGANIC CARBON CONTENT RESPECTIVELY OF SA IS ID FIRST AND SECOND SAMPLES, MEANS TO PROVIDE CONTINUOUS PASSAGE OF FLUIDS THROUGH THE APPARATUS COMPONENTS AND ELECTRONIC MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SAID TWO SEPARATE CARBON INDICIA TO PRODUCE AN ADDITIONAL INDICIA DIRECTLY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE TOTAL ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT OF SAID AQUEOUS SOLUTION.

Claim 7

A method for the automatic determination of total organic carbon in an aqueous solution comprising the combination of steps of introducing a first aqueous sample to be analyzed into a confined stream of a carrier gas, directing the resulting mixture of said first aqueous sample and carrier gas to contact a first reaction chamber heated catalytic active body capable of producing carbon dioxide from the water and total carbon content in said first aqueous sample, introducing a second aqueous sample to be analyzed into a confined stream of carrier gas, directing the resulting mixture of said second aqueous sample and carrier gas to contact a second reaction chamber heated catalytic active body capable of producing carbon dioxide from the water and inorganic carbon content in said second aqueous sample, separately directing the gaseous mixture of the products of each of the reaction chambers and hydrogen to contact a reduction chamber heated catalytic nickel body capable of producing methane by the reduction of carbon dioxide in the presence of hydrogen, each of said gaseous mixtures being heated prior to entering said reduction chamber to a temperature sufficient to substantially maintain liquid water therein in a vapor state, by flame ionization analyzing for the said methane content of each gaseous mixture and in so doing produce separate indicia representative of the total carbon present in the said first sample and the inorganic carbon present in the said second sample and thereafter automatically determining the difference between the total carbon and inorganic carbon to directly obtain the total organic carbon content of said aqueous solution.

Claim 8

A method for the automatic determination of total organic carbon in an aqueous solution comprising the combination of steps of introducing a first aqueous sample to be analyzed into a confined stream of a carrier gas, directing the resulting mixture of said first aqueous sample and carrier gas to contact a first reaction chamber heated catalytic active body capable of producing carbon dioxide from the water and total carbon content in said first aqueous sample, introducing a second aqueous sample to be analyzed into a confined stream of carrier gas, directing the resulting mixture of said second aqueous sample and carrier gas to contact a second reaction chamber heated catalytic active body capable of producing carbon dioxide from the water and inorganic carbon content in said second aqueous sample, separately directing the gaseous mixture of the products of each of the reaction chambers and hydrogen to contact a reduction chamber heated catalytic nickel body capable of producing methane by the reduction of carbon dioxide in the presence of hydrogen, each of said gaseous mixtures being heated prior to entering said reduction chamber to a temperature sufficient to substantially maintain liquid water therein in a vapor state, by flame ionization analyzing for the said methane content of each gaseous mixture and in so doing produce separate indicia representative of the total carbon present in the said first sample and the inorganic carbon present in the said second sample and thereafter automatically determining the difference between the total carbon and inorganic carbon to directly obtain the total organic carbon content of said aqueous solution.