Innovative Equipment for Emissions Testing & Fast/Low-Cost Screening

Markes provides innovative sampling and analytical technology for testing materials and products both with respect to chemical emissions and chemical content.

While the chemical content of a material is not always a reliable guide to the potential emissions/release of vapours to indoor air, it is widely used as a quick quality control guide during manufacture of relatively homogeneous, non-composite products.

Common content test methods for volatiles and some semi-volatiles typically involve an initial gas extraction step – headspace (HS), thermal desorption (TD), HS-TD or thermal extraction. In the case of general (s)VOCs, subsequent analysis is by gas chromatography with Mass Spectrometry (GCMS). Formaldehyde vapour is either sampled onto DNPH cartridges and analysed by HPLC or monitored using an on-line detector.

Markes range of test equipment for materials combines with any make of GC(MS) and includes options for:

• Quick/efficient measurement of chemical content
  
• High speed emissions screening
  
• Emissions testing in compliance with reference methods for certification
  

Key test equipment options include:

1. UNITY 2 – a low cost manual TD solution for both direct desorption of chemical content and analysis of the Tenax^® tubes useful for vapour collection during emission tests. UNITY 2 complies with standard methods, operates cryogen-free, offers a wide application range – reactive/odorous compounds, simultaneous analysis of VOCs & SVOCs, etc. – and a unique repeat analysis capability.
   
   
2. ULTRA 2 adds to UNITY 2 to provide 100-tube automation as above but with capacity to run all weekend
   
   
3. Headspace-TD – offering enhanced dynamic headspace (DHS) analysis and direct thermal desorption/extraction on a single low cost analytical platform. Combines with any GC(MS)
   
   
4. Micro-Chamber / Thermal Extractor (µ-CTE) for rapid, automatic testing of bulk or surface emissions as part of routine QA/QC 
   
   
5. FLEC^® emission cell. A simple to use, method compliant alternative to conventional emission test chambers
   

Other ancillary equipment offered by Markes for enhancing materials emissions and content analysis includes:
 

• ClearView: GCMS data reprocessing software. Improving the (TD)-GCMS analysis of trace compounds
  
  
• AL 4021 continuous formaldehyde monitor suitable for all applications requiring sensitive and reliable formaldehyde detection
  
  

Available free of charge to all TD users: 

Markes supplies a free-of-charge TD application guidebook entitled: Thermal Desorption: A Practical Applications Guide. II Residual Volatiles & Materials Emissions Testing. Click here for further information