Hydrocarbon continuous-monitoring systems for hazardous-waste-incinerator emissions measurement

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has sponsored an extended laboratory and field evaluation of continuous emission monitoring systems available to measure hydrocarbon emissions from hazardous waste incinerators. Performance tests of calibration drift, calibration error, response time, and instrument sensitivity to various hydrocarbons were conducted during the laboratory evaluation and two six-week field tests. Comparisons were also made between hydrocarbon emissions as measured by heated and unheated sample delivery systems. Long-term measurement of hydrocarbon emissions using a heated sampling system and flame ionization detector has been difficult to achieve at hazardous waste incinerators. During this test program, it was demonstrated that it is possible to operate a heated hydrocarbon monitoring system continuously for extended time periods with no system repair or maintenance. A gas sampling system providing simultaneous carbon monoxide and oxygen emissions data was also operated during the field tests.