RESULTS OF A CROSS-COMPARISON STUDY - OPTICAL MONITORING OF TOTAL ORGANIC-CARBON (TOC) OF A LIMITED RANGE OF SAMPLES

A brief cross-comparison study, focusing upon several optical techniqu es configured as new instrumentation, including UV (254 nm) absorption spectrometry and optical fluorescence (excitation at 340 nm, emission measurement at 420 nm), together with established chemical methods fo r estimating total organic carbon (TOC) in a small range of water samp les, has been made. An important aspect of the study is that although the range of samples is limited, they are obtained from a variety of s ources and they are used with several different instrumental technique s. In addition, the results of the work are assessed relative to those from a proprietary UV in-line absorption monitor commonly used in ind ustry. In spite of the restricted range of samples, the work has shown a useful correlation between proprietary measurements and both the ne ar-UV absorption and fluorescence measurements made. These indicate th e feasibility of both approaches in the design of new field-based inst ruments for TOC determination using optoelectronic devices.