Mercury in the Petrochemical Industry – Applications for Control and Certification, Utilising the Power of Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

PS Analytical (UK) stands at the forefront of technological developments for industries relating to the measurement of mercury. Recent inroads into instrumentation and applications have secured their position as the manufacturer of choice for the determination of mercury in petrochemical products for gaseous, liquid or solid matrices. The award of the ISO 9001:2000 standard and ATEX certification gives PSA’s clients confidence in their instrumentation, technical and chemical abilities, quality procedures and their commitment to R&D.
Continuous R&D has led to the redesign of control electronics in much of their instrumentation to meet ROSH and WEEE directives and also the simplification of design and provision of additional operational features.
PS Analytical’s measurement systems are based on the PSA 10.525 Sir Galahad atomic fluorescence instrument. The Sir Galahad is a very flexible system, and using a combination of hardware and software, the PSA Research and Development team have been able to configure the Sir Galahad to accommodate a wide range of sample types. Natural Gas and Syn Gas (containing high levels of hydrogen sulphide) have been regularly measured in both online and offline applications.
By working closely with experienced engineers onsite and using PSA's scientific background the team has been able to overcome the difficulties and obtain a representative sample.
The sampling manifolds have been designed so that the measurement cycle can be completely separated from the plant itself. The installed systems incorporate specially designed sampling manifolds often linked to bypass loops, which are controlled by the PSA Sir Galahad and a process control software suite of programmes. One feature which enables
reliable unattended operation is the ability of the process operator to run a sequence which continuously clears and prepares the system for the next measurement and significantly reduces the requirement for system shutdown for maintenance. Many of their systems installed worldwide have been operating continuously for several years since
installation without shut-down. These systems operate around the clock to provide the production team with the data to reliably monitor the mercury levels in a safe and effective manner. Systems have been installed successfully in the UK, Bolivia, USA, Argentina, Tunisia and Thailand both onshore and on platforms. P S Analytical also provides
instrumentation for a number of the major testing houses operating in this field around the world.