Effluent Limitations Guidelines Analyzer

The PF7 Atomic Fluorescence analyzer is designed to be an economical and simple solution for fast, high-quality measurements of metals in water. The PF7 is ideal for measuring selenium and arsenic in effluent as well as industrial process streams for compliance with Steam Electric Power Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG).

Liquid samples can be easily digested and analyzed on-site within hours of collection. The analyzer is capable of speciating inorganic selenium compounds using chemical treatment of samples as well as speciating all compounds for measurable metals using the optional High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) attachment. More specifically, it is important to know the selenite/selenate ratio in FGD process water and incorporate those results into ELG compliance strategies.

The PF7 utilizes Hydride-Generation Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (HG-AFS), which, due to its selectivity and sensitivity, is well suited for effluent and process water measurements which are subject to matrix interferences. Two layers of selectivity help produce accurate results:

1. Hydride generation technology targets a small group of compounds (including Se and As) in the liquid sample matrix, converting them to cold vapors, which bubble out of the liquid sample.

2. The cold vapor metal analytes are converted to their elemental form and detected via atomic fluorescence with a very low probability of spectral interferences, which could bias the result. The HG-AFS technique easily measures selenium and arsenic at the PPB concentrations necessary for Effluent Limitation Guidelines compliance and is significantly more cost-effective than ICP-MS.

Analyzing selenium and arsenic on-site using the PF7 has several advantages over sending samples to a laboratory:

• Fast turnaround and notification of non-compliance

• Cost-effective

• No shipping costs or dealing with hazardous materials shipping requirements