TIC DISCOVER

Determining carbon has never been easier

Carbon speciation is an analytical practice of fundamental interest in various sectors and therefore applies to both solid and liquid samples; in particular, it is essential for a complete characterization of environmental matrices.

The presence of carbon in the various matrices is given by the sum of the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and the Total Inorganic Carbon (TIC).

TOC : “organic carbon” refers to both that present in the form of well-defined chemical compounds (sugars, fatty acids, hydrocarbons, etc.) and the carbon that constitutes bacteria and other microorganisms.

TIC : carbon present in inorganic form (i.e. CO2, dissolved carbonates and bicarbonates, and other ions such as cyanides, cyanates and thiocyanates)

Determination of TOC and TIC is possible using two methods:

Method A (indirect procedure)
In this method, TOC is obtained by the difference between the TC and TIC measurement results. The total carbon (TC) present in the undried sample is converted to carbon dioxide by combustion in a carbon dioxide-free oxygen-containing gas stream. Catalysts and/or modifying agents may be used to ensure complete combustion. The amount of carbon dioxide released is measured by infrared spectrometry, gravimetry, coulometry, conductometry, thermal conductivity detection, flame ionization detection after reduction to methane, or other suitable techniques. The TIC is determined separately from another subsample by acidification and purging of the released carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is measured by one of the above techniques.

Method B (direct procedure)
In this method, carbonates present in the undried sample are previously removed by treating the sample with acid. The carbon dioxide released from the subsequent combustion stage is measured by one of the techniques mentioned in method A and indicates the TOC directly.

As mentioned, the determination of TOC is required in many sectors, especially the environmental one. The determination of TOC in soils suspected of contamination, in fact, can provide important information on the possibility of transmitting organic pollutants to the underlying aquifers, or even on the possible formation of biogas pockets due to the decomposition of organic substances; this last piece of information is very important when you want to use a soil (or a solid waste considered inert) for the construction of embankments and road embankments; or it is possible to use TOC as an acceptability criterion for waste to be sent to landfill; or the determination of TOC offers a very valid system for evaluating the concentration of algal biomass, the presence of organic carbon and nitrogen in anaerobic digestion reactors, the purity of condensates exiting from steam turbines.

These are just a few examples for which to speciate carbon.

The TIC DISCOVER is the analyzer through which you can determine the TIC using Method A , in a completely automatic way.

• equipped with 68-position auto sampler
• automatic acidification system
• automatic stirring system
• NDIR detector
• complementary to a CHNS analyzer
• equipped with a 2-needle system for acidification of samples and sampling of the headspace to be analyzed
• PC controlled