Industrial Hygiene Applications

Example Problem: Work area safety - In the petrochemicaland refinery processing plants, workplace air is monitored for many toxic compounds to assure safe working conditions. Examples of these compounds include:

H₂S SO₂ Cl₂ HCl HF NH₃ HCN

Additional compounds include Ethylene Oxide, Methyl Iodide, Benzene, Styrene, Acrylonitrile and Isocyanates (among others).

Area monitoring for these (and other) toxic compounds is typically performed by central monitoring systems and/or local sensors. Additionally, personal monitors, sorption tube samplers, and passive badges may be carried by operating personnel to track individual exposure during routine operation. These devices are all expected to read "zero", or very near zero. To assure continuous protection for personnel, the performance of these area monitors must be validated periodically as prescribed by OSHA guidelines. As a minimum, continuous monitors need a frequent "bump check" - applying a gas standard to assure that they are operational. All of the listed compounds are reactive, polar compounds. And gas cylinder standards of these compounds have very poor stability.

Solution: KIN-TEK'S Industrial Gas Standards Generator (Span Pac™ I series), Laboratory Gas Standards Generator (491MB and 491M series), and Portable Gas Standards Generator (Span Chek™ series) are used to generate the required standards.

Span Pac™ or 491MB systems are used with local area sensors. 49lM or the 491MB are used in the laboratory to test sorption tubes and passive monitoring badges used for personal monitoring. The Span Chek™ instrument is portable and can be used both in and outside of the lab.

Trace Source™ permeation tubes (both disposable and refillable) are used to create standards that are traceable to NIST. Because the standard is created on-site and used immediately, the stability problems inherent with gas cylinder standards are avoided. One Trace Source permeation tube can do hundreds of validations.