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Determination of sulfates in diesel particulates

Journal Article · · Anal. Chem.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ac00229a022· OSTI ID:6397167

Analytical techniques for the determination of total sulfates in diesel particulates are described utilizing the techniques of total combustion/nondispersive infrared (NDIR) detection and modified extraction/barium perchlorate-thorin titration (BPT). The combustion technique utilizes a commercially available sulfur analyzer (LECO-IR32) that requires less than 15 min for triplicate analysis and has a precision and accuracy of better than +- 5% for filter samples containing from 100 to 10,000 ..mu..g of sulfate. The combustion technique measures soluble and insoluble sulfate such as BaSO/sub 4/ and is not affected by the presence of large quantities of carbon in the particulate sample. The extraction efficiency for sulfates in diesel particulates using standard procedures was found to average 67% for samples containing only trace quantities of anions and 59% for samples containing stoichiometric levels of barium. These procedures have been modified to include ultrasonication with 2-proponal/water in order to overcome the problem of incomplete sulfate extraction. Extracted sulfate samples are then analyzed by using the BPT method. The extraction/BPT method showed an average recovery of 1.02 +- 0.12 (1 sigma) when compared to the combustion technique. ESCA studies showed that the chemical state of the surface sulfur species for the diesel particulates average 93 +- 3% sulfate and 7 +- 3% elemental sulfur.

Research Organization:
Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, MI
OSTI ID:
6397167
Journal Information:
Anal. Chem.; (United States), Journal Name: Anal. Chem.; (United States) Vol. 53:6; ISSN ANCHA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English