Air Pollution Monitoring

The Model 202, 205 and OEM-106-L are all well suited to ambient air measurements where ozone concentrations are typically in the range 0-100 ppb.  The EPA air quality standard currently is 75 ppb for as an 8-hour weighted average.  The Model 106-M and 106-H are not suited to this application.  The Model 202 continues to be our most popular ozone monitor and is widely used by the U.S. Forest Service, NOAA, the National Park Service and other government agencies.  The Model 205 Dual Beam Ozone offers slightly improved precision and better baseline stability than the Model 202. Both the Model 202 and Model 205 have been designated as Federal Equivalent Methods (FEMs) by the EPA, meaning that they may be used for ambient monitoring for enforcement of the Clean Air Act.  As discussed below, the Model 205 is preferred for fast measurements on aircraft and balloons.  For monitoring at fixed locations, and especially when the data are going to be averaged for 1 minute or longer, the Models 202 and 106 provide more than adequate precision. The critical components of the Model 106-L are identical to those used in the Models 202 and 205.  The Model 106-L is built on a single PCB, making it less expensive to manufacture and more compact.  An OEM version without an instrument case is available as the OEM-106-L for those customers who want to repackage the instrument for incorporation into other systems.

Ozone Monitoring in Extreme Environments

2B Technologies instruments were designed from the beginning to deal with harsh environments.  The first use of the Model 202, for example, was for vertical profiling to altitudes up to 30 km using balloons where both temperature and pressure have huge variations over short time scales. Since then, our instruments have been demonstrated to produce long-term, stable and precise measurements in extreme environments ranging from measurements throughout the Antarctic winter by the British Antarctic Survey to summer measurements in the hot desert sun of Death Valley by the Desert Research Institute.   In March 2010, the Model 202 became the only portable Federal Equivalent Method for ozone recognized by the EPA, with certification over the wide temperature range of 10 to 40 ^oC. For temperatures below 0 ^oC we offer a cold weather upgrade which includes a lamp heater and a rotary vane pump.  This option enables the instrument to be operated at temperatures as low as -20 ^oC.  For temperatures in the range 50-60 ^oC, you may simply disconnect the cell heater for more stable operation. 

Measurements from Aircraft and Balloons

The Model 205 Dual Beam Ozone Monitor was designed specifically for aircraft measurements and vertical profiling using kites and balloons where high spatial resolution requires a fast response time.  The Model 205 may be thought of as two Model 202 Ozone monitors working 90° out of phase. One detection cell is measuring sample air while the other is measuring ozone-scrubbed air. The roles of the two cells are switched every two seconds.  This allows reporting of new measurements every 2 seconds with a 100% response time of 4 seconds.  The Model 205 is the fastest ozone monitor commercially available.  The Model 202 and Model 106-L also are useful for measurements on aircraft and balloons but with less spatial resolution.

Workspace Monitoring

Ozone has become widely used in industrial applications such as in HVAC systems for removing hydrocarbons and cigarette smoke from buildings, sterilization of medical instruments, soil and ground water remediation, preservation of fruits and vegetables in warehouses, processing of food products, ozone laundries, etc.  The current OSHA limit for exposure of individuals working in those environments is 100 ppb based on an eight-hour average.  As for air pollution monitoring, the models most suitable for measurements in this concentration range are the Models 202, 205 and 106-L.  The relative advantages of each model are discussed above in the Air Pollution Monitoring section.

Measurements of Surface Partial Discharges in Large Motors and Electrical Generators

The Model 202 Ozone Monitor has been successfully used for detecting surface partial discharges in electrical generators of hydroelectric power plans.  For more details please see the paper by Louis Lépine of Hydro-Québec.  This application requires measurements at low ppb levels.  Please contact us for a quote for a complete setup for this application including Model 202 Ozone Monitor, Pelican case for storage, 10-hour external battery, sampling tube and other accessories.

Industrial Ozone

The Models 106-M (medium ozone) and 106-H (high ozone) were design with shorter optical benches than the Model 106-L in order to extend the ozone measurement range to 1,000 ppm and 10 wt% (30,000 ppm), respectively.  The Model 106-M measures ozone in process streams with 0.01% resolution.  The Model 106-H is designed for measuring ozone at the per cent level produced by ozone generators.  The Model 106-H is a flow-through instrument with no pump and thus can be used in-line with ozone generators. The 106 series has a two-level relay switch for controlling ozone, sounding an alarm, or controlling other processes based on ozone concentration.  The Model 106 series has a 4-20 mA output in order to interface with common industrial recording instrumentation.