Abstract
A technique was developed to measure the total gaseous phosphorus content in biogas. The amount of air needed for a neutral to oxidising flame was mixed with the biogas. The gas mixture was burnt in a closed quartz burner and the combustion gasses were bubbled through a nitric acid solution. The phosphate content in the bubbling liquid was determined with sector field ICP-MS. The technique was validated in the lab with phosphine. Afterwards the set-up was installed on a landfill. The total gaseous phosphorus content in the landfill gas, measured with the combustive technique, ranged from 1.65 to 4.44 μg P/m3. At the same time the phosphine concentration in the landfill gas was determined gas chromatographically (GC). The phosphine (PH3) content measured with GC ranged from 7.6 to 16.7 μg PH3-P/m3. Since the phosphine-P content (GC) was consistently higher than the total gaseous phosphorus content (burner/ICP-MS), the hypothesised presence of highly toxic gaseous phosphorus compounds other than phosphine could not be demonstrated.
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ROELS, J., VANHAECKE, F. & VERSTRAETE, W. COMBUSTIVE APPROACH FOR MEASURING TOTAL VOLATILE PHOSPHORUS CONTENT IN LANDFILL GAS. Environ Monit Assess 101, 103–116 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-005-9138-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-005-9138-9