Welcome to the IC Solutions for the Power Industry page. Here you will find the latest state-of-the-art instrumentation information and applications solutions for the use of Dionex Ion Chromatography (IC) in determining ions of relevance to power industry water analysis.
Free Power Plant IC Assessment Program
Dionex stands ready to deliver an IC Assessment Program to evaluate a power industry laboratory’s use of IC. The Assessment is carried out by a Dionex Applications Specialist in conjunction with a Dionex Service Representative.
Contact our technical representatives at one of our Global Subsidiary and Distributor Offices.
Presentations
The following presentations are divided into separate segments focusing on specific aspects of the power plant IC capabilities.
Principles of Ion Chromatography for the Power Industry
This segment presents the fundamentals of IC as they apply to the special requirements of the power industry.
Monitoring the Flue Gas Desulfurization Process
Coal fired power plants are a major contributor to sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere. Currently, many plants are required to remove this atmospheric contaminant using desulfurization technology.
On-Line IC Monitoring
Both the ICS-5000 and ICS-2100 can be installed in an on-line IC monitoring product called the Integral™ process analytical system. The Integral system product delivers all of the analytical benefits of the ICS instruments, plus automated stream selection and Chromeleon® Chromatography Data System functionality tailored to on-line monitoring requirements.
Ion Chromatography-Radiochemical Analysis (IC-RA)
Nuclear power plants have an environmental requirement to report on key radioisotopes discharged in their waste water. Of particular concern is the concentration of Sr-90 in plant waste water.
Related Literature
ICS-5000 Data Sheet
The ICS-5000 modular IC system replaces the ICS-3000 and retains all of the capabilities of the ICS-3000, while adding the option of performing capillary IC analysis.
ICS-2100 Data Sheet
The ICS-2100 integrated IC system provides cost effective solutions to many of the power industry IC applications. It delivers the benefits of an RFIC™ system to both process water and environmental water samples.
Integral Process Analytical Systems Data Sheet
Integral systems provide a versatile and adaptable approach to process analytical LC systems. An unsurpassed range of IC and HPLC capabilities are combined with configurable sampling systems and adaptable off-the-shelf industrial enclosure options.
Power Industry Ion Chromatography (IC) Application Abstracts
The following abstracts are an introduction to a selection of IC documents which detail the appropriate modes of IC operation used to determine ions associated with both nuclear power and fossil fuel power plant water systems. Some applications are unique to Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) nuclear power plants, while others are specific to Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) nuclear power plants. Since the reactor coolant water for BWR plants is essentially high-purity water, these application documents are also applicable to fossil fuel plants.
Application Note 250
Application Note 250 describes the determination of zinc and nickel in borated power plant waters containing lithium hydroxide using nonsuppressed conductivity detection. It has been found that the addition of zinc, as zinc acetate, to the water of a PWR primary water suppresses the cobalt-80 and cobalt-60 in stainless steel surfaces. Traditionally, the zinc concentration has been quantified using IC with postcolumn reaction with PAR reagent, followed by photometric detection.
Application Note 250 denotes a simpler way to quantify zinc in this matrix, using ion exchange separation and nonsuppressed IC detection. This methodology delivers lower signal-to-noise than the postcolumn PAR method, but provides the simplicity of nonsuppressed IC detection. This method does deliver response to other metals, such as nickel and iron. However, the response to iron is considered semi-quantitative because of the inadvertent interconversion between iron-2 and iron-3.
Application Note 247
Application Note 247 demonstrates two methods for determining amines in nuclear power plant waste waters. The first is optimized to separate hydrazine within 16 min and morpholine within 24 min using the IonPac® CS16 column with suppressed conductivity detection and integrated pulsed amperometric detection (IPAD). The second method resolves ethanolamine (ETA) by cation-exchange chromatography on the IonPac CS15 column with suppressed conductivity detection.
To reduce maintenance time and cost, corrosion inhibitors and oxygen scavengers are often added to control the pH of water in NPP secondary and cooling systems. Application Note 247 explains a sensitive new approach that overcomes previous analytical challenges and facilitates compliance monitoring of NPP wastewater discharge.
Application Note 185
Application Note 185 describes the preferred IC methodology when determining trace anions in PWR primary reactor water containing a high concentration of boric acid, in combination with lithium hydroxide, using electrolytically generated hydroxide eluent.
When attempting to optimize anion sub-ppb quantification using preconcentration, this water matrix can compromise the recovery of early eluters (fluoride, acetate, and formate). This sample matrix acts as an internal eluent, sweeping some of these early eluters from the concentrator column. In this application, the borated lithium hydroxide sample passes through a Continuously Regenerated Cation-Trap Column (CR-CTC). This removes all cations and replaces them with hydrogen ions, which converts all borate back to the neutral boric acid molecule. The result is a reduction in elution of early eluters from the concentrator column, preserving the integrity of their analysis. This also minimizes the chromatographic response to the boric acid in the sample.
Application Note 166
Application Note 166 describes a method for determining trace anions in a boric acid/lithium hydroxide matrix of a PWR primary coolant water. Past IC methodology has featured the use of a boric acid-containing eluent to minimize the borate peak that compromises the ability to quantify the early eluters (fluoride, acetate, and formate) in this water matrix. However, this method did not provide the convenience of electrolytically generated hydroxide eluent.
In Application Note 166, the eluent bottle contains a high concentration of boric acid (~100 mM), to which the eluent generator electrolytically adds the required amount of hydroxide to deliver a constant concentration of borate along with a hydroxide gradient to separate the ions of interest without interference from the borate anion. This mode of operation is only applicable to direct loop injection, rather than preconcentration.
Application Note 158
Application Note 158 discusses and compares the advantages and limitations of nonsuppressed IC versus suppressed IC for the determination of trace cations in power plant water matrices.
Suppressed IC delivers the best signal-to-noise ratio and, therefore, the highest sensitivity for cations in power plant water matrices. On the other hand, nonsuppressed IC offers simpler methodology and can often deliver the required sensitivity if cation preconcentration can be used.
Application Note 152
Application Note 152 details the use of suppressed conductivity detection and the IonPac CS16 column to determine ultratrace levels of sodium in the presence of ppm levels of amines, such as ethanolamine, in power plant waters. PWR secondary water cycles often contain amine corrosion inhibitors in the low ppm level. Fossil fuel plant boiler water often contains the same amine corrosion inhibitors. Each of these waters requires the monitoring of the corrosive anion, sodium, at the low ppb level. This Application Note shows how these disparate cation concentrations can be monitored by either suppressed or nonsuppressed conductivity detection.
Nonsuppressed conductivity delivers poorer sensitivity (lower signal-to-noise ratio) than suppressed conductivity detection. However, the lower sensitivity of nonsuppressed IC can be overcome by cation preconcentration, and deliver suitable monitoring capabilities.
Application Note 146
Application Note 146 describes the use of high-volume direct injection with electrolytic generation of a hydroxide eluent to determine trace anions in high-purity water.
This methodology uses an IonPac AS17, 2 mm analytical column to determine anions of interest in BWR boiler water, PWR secondary water, and fossil fuel power plant boiler water. Electrolytic generation of hydroxide delivers the power of gradient elution without excessive baseline increase. This allows a very broad range of analytes to be determined at low ppb levels.
Application Update 142
This Application Update describes the use of high-volume (1 mL loop) direct injection of a sample, and electrolytic generation of a hydroxide eluent to deliver ppb level sensitivity for determining trace anions in high-purity water. This method is applicable to the high-purity water used in fossil fuel power pants and reactor coolant water in BWR nuclear power plants. The IonPac AS15 analytical column gives excellent separation of fluoride from acetate, which ensures accurate fluoride determinations.
Application Update 102
This Application Update was the first in a series of Application Updates and Notes that dealt with delivering reliable trace-anion analysis for PWR reactor coolant water with high boric acid concentrations (e.g., 1.2% boric acid) using a 5 mM tetraborate eluent. By concentrating 10 to 20 mL of sample on an anion concentrator column, this method delivers ppb level determination of fluoride, acetate, formate, and chloride. Using a more concentrated tetraborate eluent, this method can also deliver ppb level determinations of chloride through sulfate.
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