General Calibration
Each oil has a specific response factor to fluorescent light. Therefor, calibrating against your target oil is recommended for best results. For example, if your sample is produced water, you will want to prepare your calibration solution with site-specific crude oil.
The answer is illustrated in the Linear Calibration screen. After calibration, you will need to check the linearity. As an example, if you calibrated the instrument to 100 ppm, to verify the linearity, you should dilute the 100 ppm standard solution by half, and see if it reads about half. If not, the 100 ppm is not linear, and you need to recalibrate with a lower concentration calibration solution.
If your 50% dilution reads about half, but your 200 ppm standard solution reads low, it means that your linear range is between 100 and 200. You can make standard solutions between 100 and 200 to learn the actual linear range.
If your 50% dilution reads about half, but your 200 ppm standard solution reads low, it means that your linear range is between 100 and 200. You can make standard solutions between 100 and 200 to learn the actual linear range.
The CheckPOINT™ is a solid standard, which allows you to verify calibration without preparing standard solutions. Your first calibration must be done with liquid standard solutions. After the initial calibration (and you have verified the linearity of your calibration curve), insert the CheckPOINT™ and follow your manual’s instructions for making readings and adjustments. Use the included Allen wrench to adjust the screw. We recommend setting the reading in the second half of your calibration range.
Under normal and recommended operating conditions, the monitor will display negative measurements when no water is present. The reason for this is that the air present in the flow cell without water has less background fluorescence than water. This is a normal situation; however, the analog output, which will be 4-20 mA, will be limited to 4 mA or 0 ppm, if so programmed, even when no water is present. Thus, the remote indication will be 0 ppm in the event of no water flow.
The monitor will also display negative numbers if the measurement is less than the value of the blank. Although negative concentrations are only theoretical, a display of a negative concentration is very important diagnostic information for our monitor since fluorescence is never measured from an absolute zero, but in reference to a defined zero. Thus, a negative measurement in the presence of water indicates that the defined zero, which the customer selects, is not appropriate. If the display was truncated to zero, this situation, which will occur in water obtained from natural sources, will never be detected. It could also cause false measurements from the monitor if not corrected.
In most applications, the online monitor or laboratory analyzer can display measurements according to a certain regulatory measurement method results if a correlation is developed between samples measured by our equipment and the regulatory measurement method. Our manuals have instructions on how to develop the correlation calibration.
TD-500D
(Discontinued)
EPA 1664A is a gravimetric method, and the procedure requires evaporation of solvent. During the evaporation process, some oil compounds evaporate along with the solvent, resulting in lower readings. If EPA 1664A is the standard method you need to comply to, correlation is the key. Any two different methods will produce different numerical readings. Measurements from a TD-500D/TD-3100 can be well correlated to the EPA method. After the correlation is in place, the TD-500D/TD-3100 can consistently predict results from an EPA lab.
Yes, because the TD-500D is battery powered, it can be operated anywhere.
No, the TD-500D is not intrinsically safe; however, because samples are brought to it for analysis, the TD-500D is typically operated in laboratories or other general purpose areas.
The TD-500D can typically make well over 1000 measurements with a set of batteries.
No, the TD-500D uses four standard type AAA alkaline batteries.
No, we do not recommend using rechargeable batteries in the analyzer since they may leak or damage the analyzer.
Turner Designs Hydrocarbon Instruments or our local dealer will evaluate your application and advise the recommended cuvette type. In some cases you may be recommended to have both sizes of cuvettes to determine which cuvette type is best for your application.
No, the TD-500D is not sensitive to BTEX compounds. If BTEX compounds need to be measured, then our TD-3100 Laboratory Fluorometer can be used.
No, the TD-500D is not sensitive to aromatic solvents, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, or low concentrations of diesel fuel. Our TD-3100 Laboratory Fluorometer can be used to measure these fuels and solvents.
We do not recommend the TD-500D for measuring low concentrations of lubricating oils in water because it is not sensitive towards these oils. We recommend our TD-3100 Laboratory Fluorometer for these applications. High concentrations of lubricating oils in water possibly could be measured by the TD-500D, but the TD-3100 is a better choice because it can also measure low concentrations of most lubricating oils.
No. In general, the No Solvent Method is not sensitive enough to be used for measuring refined petroleum products on the TD-500D. The exception to this is #6 fuel oil, also called Bunker C or heavy fuel oil. The No Solvent Method is designed for typical black crude oils.
When evaluating the calibration on a TD-500D, you need to evaluate the sensitivity as well as the linearity. The sensitivity is displayed on the diagnostic screen as the value of the %FS-Std. As long as the %FS-Std is greater than 2, the sensitivity is sufficient for the calibration. You should also check the linearity of the calibration. This is easily done by measuring a diluted calibration standard. A measurement close to the expected diluted concentration will confirm linearity.
If the signal from the calibration standard exceeds the allowed measurement of the TD-500D, then this message will appear. You can correct this by A) calibrating at a lower concentration, and/or B) using a smaller cuvette size, and/or C) switch to a less sensitive measurement channel.
A %FS-Std less than 2 indicates that the calibration solution has insufficient response for reasonable measurements. To increase the response, you can A) calibrate at a higher concentration, and/or B) use a larger size cuvette, and/or C) switch to a more sensitive measurement channel.
TD-3100
(Discontinued)
Yes, the TD-3100 by itself does not have the optical kit installed. Various optical kits for measuring different ranges of hydrocarbons are available.
Turner Designs Hydrocarbon Instruments or its local dealer will recommend the appropriate optical kit for your application if we are provided with the application details. In some cases multiple optical kits may be recommended.
Yes, there is a unique lamp for each optical kit.
The TD-3100 comes with a power adapter that converts AC power to DC power. A standard 12 VDC car battery cannot be used to power the TD-3100 without the use a voltage regulation device between the battery and the TD-3100.
For most applications, the TD-3100 can be initially calibrated with a calibration solution. Then the CheckPOINT™ Solid Standard can be set to a response similar to calibration solution. Subsequently, the TD-3100 calibration is checked with the CheckPOINT™ Solid Standard and, if needed, recalibrated with the CheckPOINT™ Solid Standard.
Although the possible %Sens value can range from 1 to 99, practical measurements and applications will produce %Sens values between 4 and 70.