Development of calibration standards for fourier transform infrared spectrometer in continuous monitoring of incinerator emissions

Recent development of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy greatly expands its potential as a continuous monitoring system for incinerator emissions. However, one of the key factors in ensuring success of this technology is obtaining a set of reliable calibration standards for the quantitation of target analytes. Experimental results in this study indicate that calibration should be conducted at the same cell condition as that used in the field monitoring. A static method is adequate in the calibrations of non-reactive compounds, but for a reactive compound, such as hydrogen chloride, a dynamic method must be used. The study also shows that single-component reference spectra collected in the calibration, combined with a partial least-squares method, are able to predict mixtures with strong spectral overlaps.