Abstract

Halogenated hydrocarbons and hydro halogenated compounds are found in a wide variety of chemical, petrochemical and refinery processes. Interest in detecting the total of these types of compounds arises in monitoring ambient air for leaks, spills or personnel protection and in monitoring feed stocks for the purpose of catalyst protection. Organically bound chlorides form hydrochloric acid in the process lines. Hydrochloric acid, present as impurity, is the main cause of corrosion of pipelines, vessels and valves. The corroded pipeline or vessel is always a safety concern. With proper sample conditioning the analyzer can determine the organic chlorides or hydrochloric acid (HCL) content in gases and volatile liquid hydrocarbon streams. This paper describes the use of, on-line or in lab analyzers based on the dry colorimetric technique, in performing these measurements. This technique is shown to have distinct advantages over traditional competing techniques like Microcoulometry and Wickbold.