Unique Industrial Emissions Analyzer Simultaneously Measures CO, CO2, H2O and O2 in Real Time

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A new instrument from Los Gatos Research (LGR), the leader in precision trace gas analyzers, is the first to enable comprehensive monitoring of industrial combustion processes for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compliance and other purposes. Specifically, the Industrial Emissions Analyzer (CO, CO2, H2O, O2) can precisely and simultaneously measure all key combustion products (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor and oxygen). This product launch follows the EPA's release of the first comprehensive survey of GHGs emitted from major industrial facilities in the U.S.

The new Industrial Emissions Analyzer (CO, CO2, H2O, O2), or IEA, measures each gas independently with practically zero crosstalk (or cross sensitivity) between the four components, or with other trace gases, such as unburned hydrocarbons. The IEA also features rugged packaging, automated operation, and Ethernet connectivity which make it ideal for portable operation as well as remote, unmanned operation over extended periods in inaccessible locations and/or challenging operating conditions. Two models are currently offered: a Standard model with total uncertainty less than 1%, and an Enhanced Performance (EP) version with total uncertainty less than 0.03% of measured mole fractions over the entire range of operating temperatures from 0 to 45 degrees C.

The IEA accurately corrects for water vapor dilution and spectroscopic effects and thus directly reports CO, CO2 and O2 on a dry mole basis without drying or other treatment of the emissions gas mixture. This is unlike older conventional technologies (including photoacoustic, FTIR, NDIR, GC), which cannot deliver these measurements without sample pretreatment. This new Industrial Emissions Analyzer (CO, CO2, H2O, O2) also delivers much higher dynamic range for all four gases as compared to any other real-time measurement technology, so sample concentration or dilution is not required.

LGR President Dr. Doug Baer notes, "Our new Industrial Emissions Analyzer was developed to help improve production and manufacturing efficiencies of energy intensive industries including power plants, refineries and other major GHG emitters as summarized recently by the US EPA. Reliable monitoring of large industrial emitters like power plants and chemical production plants and refineries cannot be achieved simply by calculation and self-reporting. Plant owners, monitoring agencies and other stakeholders need objective, reliable measurements in order to improve efficiencies now more than ever."

LGR precision gas analyzers are based on the company's patented Off-Axis Integrated Cavity Output Spectroscopy (OA-ICOS) technology, a fourth generation, cavity-enhanced laser absorption technique. This unique approach is both more rugged and more precise than earlier cavity-enhanced techniques, such as conventional cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS), because the performance of OA-ICOS does not need ultra-precise alignment or sub nanometer stability of its optics, or a high degree of thermal control. This ensures higher absolute accuracy, longer maintenance intervals, higher reliability and lowest cost of ownership.

LGR (www.LGRinc.com) makes the world's most precise, rugged and reliable instruments for measurements of trace gases and isotopes. LGR instruments have been deployed by scientists for acquiring the most accurate measurements possible on all seven continents, in unmanned aerial vehicles, in mobile laboratories, on research and commercial aircraft, and in undersea vehicles.

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SOURCE LGR, Inc.