On-line FT-MIR/NIR process analysis

FT-IR spectrometers designed for laboratory operation are generally not suited for plant production areas where ambient temperatures often exceed 120° F and noise levels are extremely high. The Nicolet Pro-IR 5 process FT-IR spectrometer can operate in hostile environments over the spectral range from 10 000 to 250 wavenumbers. We have evaluated the performance of this system using a set of commercial detergent samples and a wide range of gas mixtures. The detergent samples were simultaneously analyzed for twelve components using a sophisticated partial least-squares statistical analysis software package. The concentrations ranged from 0.1 to over 50 wt.-%, with water being the major component. A comparison will be made between the NIR and MIR results using flow-through ATR (attenuated total reflectance) and transmission cells.