Introduction
A variety of indicators can be used to measure the level of organic contamination of a sample, or simply the quantity of organic compounds contained in it. But one of these parameters is on the advance: total organic carbon (TOC). In analyses of drinking water and waste water as well in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, the TOC provides information about the sample's contamination level. Its talents don't end there, however, even extending to applications in electronics production where it can be used to monitor organic additives in electroplating baths. The requirements placed on TOC measurement by the various industries are varied.
The new ADI 7010 TOC Analyzer from Metrohm Applikon enables rapid, precise online process control of the TOC in liquid samples. Using the example of waste water analysis, this article will give you an introduction to the measuring parameter TOC.
It all adds up
The TOC denotes a sample's total content of organically bound carbon. As a sum parameter (see information box on the next page), it provides an easy, quick, and accurate way of assessing the amount of organic substances in a sample. Depending on the context, increased quantities of organic substances facilitate microbial growth, but also damage machi nery and cause unwanted byproducts to develop. TOC measurement is more than simply a shortcut to determining the total amount of organic substances in a sample: given the sheer number of different organic compounds present in samples such as waste water, it is all but impossible to identify and quantify every single one – and this fact makes sum parameters like the TOC not only convenient, but the only way of coming to a conclusion about organic contamination in such samples.
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