PPB-Level Detection of Benzene Diluted in Water by Bubbling Extraction System and UV Spectroscopy Based Measurements

A new and easy-to-use portable sensor dedicated to the detection of benzene diluted in aqueous solution is presented. By connecting a bubbling device to a high efficiency UV detection cell, previously developed for a BTX air monitoring system, we could achieve a detection limit down to 100 ppb with a S/N of about 3. This sensitivity conforms to wastewater regulations in both America and Japan (resp. 500 and 120 ppb). The sensor also exhibits a linear response within the 0.1-3 ppm range and reproducibility. Measurements take less than 10 minutes, which makes this sensor particularly suitable for fast and accurate on-field monitoring applications.