TY - JOUR
T1 - Analytical methodology for sampling and analysing eight siloxanes and trimethylsilanol in biogas from different wastewater treatment plants in europe
AU - Raich-Montiu, J.
AU - Ribas-Font, C.
AU - de Arespacochaga, N.
AU - Roig-Torres, E.
AU - Broto-Puig, F.
AU - Crest, M.
AU - Bouchy, L.
AU - Cortina, J. L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was financially supported as Project SL1001 by the R+i Alliance , which is a company established in France to select, fund and coordinate the execution of research, development and innovation projects of common interest for the Suez Environment companies, by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) (established in the USA), and by the European LIFE+ Program under the framework of the MICROPHILOX Project (LIFE05 ENV/E/000319), during which most of the chromatographic methodology was developed.
PY - 2014/2/17
Y1 - 2014/2/17
N2 - Siloxanes and trimethylsilanol belong to a family of organic silicone compounds that are currently used extensively in industry. Those that are prone to volatilisation become minor compounds in biogas adversely affecting energetic applications. However, non-standard analytical methodologies are available to analyse biogas-based gaseous matrixes. To this end, different sampling techniques (adsorbent tubes, impingers and tedlar bags) were compared using two different configurations: sampling directly from the biogas source or from a 200L tedlar bag filled with biogas and homogenised. No significant differences were apparent between the two sampling configurations. The adsorbent tubes performed better than the tedlar bags and impingers, particularly for quantifying low concentrations. A method for the speciation of silicon compounds in biogas was developed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry working in dual scan/single ion monitoring mode. The optimised conditions could separate and quantify eight siloxane compounds (L2, L3, L4, L5, D3, D4, D5 and D6) and trimethylsilanol within fourteen minutes. Biogas from five waste water treatment plants located in Spain, France and England was sampled and analysed using the developed methodology. The siloxane concentrations in the biogas samples were influenced by the anaerobic digestion temperature, as well as the nature and composition of the sewage inlet. Siloxanes D4 and D5 were the most abundant, ranging in concentration from 1.5 to 10.1 and 10.8 to 124.0mgNm-3, respectively, and exceeding the tolerance limit of most energy conversion systems.
AB - Siloxanes and trimethylsilanol belong to a family of organic silicone compounds that are currently used extensively in industry. Those that are prone to volatilisation become minor compounds in biogas adversely affecting energetic applications. However, non-standard analytical methodologies are available to analyse biogas-based gaseous matrixes. To this end, different sampling techniques (adsorbent tubes, impingers and tedlar bags) were compared using two different configurations: sampling directly from the biogas source or from a 200L tedlar bag filled with biogas and homogenised. No significant differences were apparent between the two sampling configurations. The adsorbent tubes performed better than the tedlar bags and impingers, particularly for quantifying low concentrations. A method for the speciation of silicon compounds in biogas was developed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry working in dual scan/single ion monitoring mode. The optimised conditions could separate and quantify eight siloxane compounds (L2, L3, L4, L5, D3, D4, D5 and D6) and trimethylsilanol within fourteen minutes. Biogas from five waste water treatment plants located in Spain, France and England was sampled and analysed using the developed methodology. The siloxane concentrations in the biogas samples were influenced by the anaerobic digestion temperature, as well as the nature and composition of the sewage inlet. Siloxanes D4 and D5 were the most abundant, ranging in concentration from 1.5 to 10.1 and 10.8 to 124.0mgNm-3, respectively, and exceeding the tolerance limit of most energy conversion systems.
KW - Biogas
KW - Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry
KW - Sampling techniques
KW - Siloxanes
KW - Trimethylsilanol
KW - Waste water treatment plants
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84894904323&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.aca.2013.12.027
DO - 10.1016/j.aca.2013.12.027
M3 - Article
C2 - 24491768
AN - SCOPUS:84894904323
SN - 0003-2670
VL - 812
SP - 83
EP - 91
JO - Analytica Chimica Acta
JF - Analytica Chimica Acta
ER -