Development of a coulometric method for assessing the concentration of ambient levels of CO2/air in compressed-gas mixtures

The understanding of global 'greenhouse' issues as they relate to CO2 in the atmosphere is a current environmental concern. At the National Institute of Standards and Technology there is a continuous search for methods of analysis that yield results that are traceable to fundamental quantities. The coulometric method presented here is a reliable method for the direct analysis of CO2/air cylinder gas mixtures. It is based on Faraday's laws of electrolysis and therefore no external standardization is required. A series of CO2/air cylinder gas mixtures ranging in concentration from 300 to 375 micromol/mol (ppm) were analyzed and the results compared to those results obtained by non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) analysis with traceability to gravimetric standards. The coulometric method is rapid, sensitive, precise, and with the proper experimental controls, will yield accurate results.