Determination of glycol in aircraft ground deicing/anti-icing fluids using flow injection with refractive index detection

A simple method for determining glycol in deicing/anti-icing fluids has been developed. The method uses a single line FIA system with detection based on Schlieren optics. The concentration range was 0-5% glycol and the limit of detection was 0.05%. Samples were preferably pumped at a flow rate of 0.7 ml/min and 100 mul of distilled water was injected (reverse FIA). Detection was accomplished with an 18 mul spectrophotometric flow cell at a wavelength of 410 nm. The conduit connecting the injector and the detector was 10 cm long and had an inner diameter of 0.5 mm. The traditional FIA approach can also be applied, i.e. injection of samples into a carrier of water, but the linear working range is narrower in comparison to the reverse FIA method. Standard addition and near infrared spectroscopy confirmed the validity of the developed method.