Radox® Total Sulfur digestion of Sulfonates in UPW
A powerful analytical technique combining the newly patented Radox® digestion method used in conjunction with Ion Chromatography technology – now being successfully used in the nuclear power generation industry to measure Total Sulfur in ultrapure water (UPW) where the condition of the resin beds needs critical monitoring
Field tested at Sizewell B’s PWR Nuclear reactor
The Radox® digestor has now been successfully tested and approved and is now being used by British Energy (part of EDF) routinely at their Sizewell “B” nuclear power station, monitoring their secondary cooling water for sulfonate leaching. Sizewell “B” is located in Suffolk, England and is Britain’s only commercial PWR reactor.
Sulfonates and UPW
A fast, automated and accurate method for measuring Total Sulfur (TS) in UPW has long
been a goal of analysts in this field. Cation exchange resin beds used to produce UPW are generally constructed from sulfonated materials - sulfonated styrene or divinyl-benzene (DVB). These materials may eventually leach into the UPW product and because they have a multitude of molecular weights and concentrations are at trace levels, they are not susceptible to analysis using conventional HPLC or ICP elemental assay.
An obvious solution is to digest the samples, mineralizing the sulfur present to SO42- and then use Ion Chromatography to obtain a quantitative measurement.
Until now, such a digestion has been very time consuming with little confidence that the digestion is complete.
Efficient Conversion to Sulfate
Tests show that the new Radox® digestor quickly and efficiently mineralizes all organic sulfonated material as well as other organic species and the digestion system is as efficient with the more difficult to oxidize organics, such as acetic acid.
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TOTAL SULFUR
