The application of portable GC-MS on the petrochemical wharf

Abstract

It is very important to quickly identify the liquid chemicals in the petrochemical wharf when they volatile in the air. Since most of the liquid chemicals transported in the petrochemical wharf are harmful to people, and they spread very fast in the air. If the exact kind of liquid chemicals is undefined or is wrongly defined, it will lead to a big mistake in detection result. The mass spectrum is very effective in determining the gas kinds, but its big size and complex sampling mode are not convenient for quick detection. To resolve this problem, a method based on portable GC_MS for VOCs determination is developed. The VOCs are directly extracted by solid phase micro extraction head for 120 seconds. After that, they are analysed on the portable GC-MS, determined by retention time and MS peaks, quantified by external standard method. It only takes 6.4 min from sample extracting to get the result. And its linear correlation is larger than 0.98, and the minimum detectable concentration is lower than half of their occupational exposure limits. In the simulation test, the relative error is lower than 4.4%. This method can directly sample in the air, rarely depends on external conditions. At the same time, it can determine and quantify multiple kinds of VOCs at a time. So, it will be very suitable for the VOCs emergency detection in the leakage scene.