Quantitation of hydrogen sulfide reference gas mixtures to provide traceability for indoor air quality monitoring

• Published in: Accreditation and quality assurance 2021-04, Vol.26 (2), p.69-75
• Main Authors: Leshabane, Nompumelelo, Tshilongo, James, Moja, Shadung J., Ntsasa, Napo G., Mphaphuli, Gumani, Jozela, Mudalo I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; Air monitoring; Air pollution; Air quality; Aluminum; Analytical Chemistry; Biochemistry; Carbon; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chromatography; Commercial Law; Consistency; Cylinder liners; Ecotoxicology; Environmental monitoring; Food Science; Gas chromatography; Gas cylinders; Gas mixtures; Gases; General Paper; Homogeneity; Hydrogen sulfide; Indoor air pollution; Indoor air quality; Ionization counters; Irritation; Legislation; Marketing; Measurement techniques; Natural gas; Nitrogen; Occupational health; Occupational safety; Outdoor air quality; Pollution monitoring; Reference materials; Sensors; Software; Spectroscopic analysis; Spectrum analysis; Sulfur dioxide; Sulfuric acid; Transfer lines; Ultraviolet spectroscopy; Uncertainty
• ISSN: 0949-1775; 1432-0517
• DOI: 10.1007/s00769-021-01461-z

Accurate measurements for the determination of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) are critical for the compliance with legislation in various industries, including natural gas and environmental sectors such as air pollution monitoring. H 2 S measurements at ambient level are challenging because H 2 S tends to adsorb on the internal surfaces of the sample collection devices such as gas cylinders and transfer lines. Prolonged exposure to H 2 S has known health implications to humans, such as irritation to the nose, throat and airways that results in coughing or inflammation, wheezing and shortness of breath around the chest. H 2 S is mainly monitored for occupational health and safety and indoor air quality monitoring. It is a highly reactive gas that can easily react with oxygen to form sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and with water to form sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ). The traceability of H 2 S measurements is achieved through the preparation of reference gas mixtures. These gas mixtures are gravimetrically prepared in accordance with International Organization for Standardization (ISO 6142–1:2015). The H 2 S reference gas mixtures were produced with the highest metrological capability; thus, the molar mass, purity assessment, and the weighing gave an overall gravimetric relative uncertainty which is less than 0.10% ( k  = 1). One of the biggest challenges in producing a H 2 S reference gas mixture is the handling of a gas cylinder from the gravimetric preparation process until the verification stage. This work will detail the improved techniques and measurements used to produce the H 2 S reference gas mixtures. The internal consistency between the mixtures was verified using a non-dispersive ultraviolet (NDUV) spectroscopy analyzer, an ultraviolet fluorescence spectroscopy (UVFS) analyzer and gas chromatography coupled with a pulsed discharged helium ionization detector (GC-PDHID). Our measurement uncertainty results show that the gravimetric value, internal consistency, adsorption, homogeneity, and stability were within a relative uncertainty of 1.2% as compared to our previous uncertainty of 4.4%. This is a significant improvement for the measurements of H 2 S reference gas mixtures.