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PCBs/Pesticides & EPA RFS Updates

Testing for PCBs and Pesticides – Another Impinger Method Bites the Dust

Ohio Lumex has been on a mission to improve Biogas/RNG sampling and analysis for the industry, including:

  • Simplifying sampling

  • Improving sample stability

  • Improving turnaround times

  • Improving sensitivity and accuracy

  • Eliminating hazardous shipping requirements

  • Reducing cost


We previously reported the successful development of our new Metals Sorbent Trap that will replace the complex and cumbersome EPA Method 29 setup of sample gas bubbling through a set of three impingers full of a hazardous mixture of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide, all sitting in an ice bath, haphazardly perched on an upgrade skid in the middle of nowhere.


Another cumbersome impinger method will bite the dust as Ohio Lumex is now offering PCBs and Pesticides Sorbent Traps. Like all of our sorbent traps, the PCBs and Pesticides Sorbent Traps have the following benefits:

  • Small and lightweight

  • Easy to use

  • Do not require additional setup

  • Can be ordered for next-day delivery

  • No hazardous shipping is required

  • Lower cost

The PCBs and Pesticides Sorbent Trap is just another example of Ohio Lumex’s ongoing effort to offer new and improved methods for this industry, leading to easier sampling, faster analysis, and improved sensitivity and accuracy.


EPA Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)

The talk in the industry these days surrounds the EPA Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, published July 12, 2023, with corrections dated August 3, 2023. For RNG producers, in addition to complying with the gas quality specifications required by natural gas pipelines, the EPA has codified the following standards for biogas and RNG measurement that they will require for reporting:

Standard

Measurement

EPA Method 3C

​How to measure methane

ASTM D3588

How to calculate heating value and relative density

ASTM D5504

How to measure H2S and other sulfur compounds

ASTM D6866

How to measure biogenic carbon

ASTM D8230

How to measure siloxanes

ASTM D4888

How to measure moisture content

While we can debate whether these are the optimal methods, and if the deadlines will be pushed back, you can rest assured that as your one-stop-shop for biogas/RNG gas analysis, Ohio Lumex will be ready to support you as the rule is currently written, including providing the required Certificates of Analysis (COA) and Summary Tables.

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