| Abstract: | A common part of many gas analyses using bubblers is to combine the contents of the first n-1 impingers and analyze them separate from the nth. The nth impinger, yielding as it should a nil result, confirms that all of the sample entering the train was caught and that the concentration calculated therefrom represents the “true” value. Many a hapless analyst has found himself stuck with nonzero nth impingers on occasion. Bemgloath tb reject the whole test, the analyst will often report the concentration based on the total catch (with appropriate qualifiers, of course). Another common practice is to calculate the percentage of the total catch in the first n-1 impingers. Sometimes this is reported, erroneously, as the sampler efficiency. The true sampler efficiency cannot be known (if it is less than 100%) because the presence of sample in the last impinger indicates that some unknown amount has passed through the train entirely. |
