ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly discusses the application, chemical properties and physical properties of carbon monoxide. It presents detailed information on the air analysis of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is produced when substances burn in insufficient air and occurs in automobile exhaust gases and closed confinements. It has high risk of exposure under fire conditions. Carbon monoxide is a colorless gas with no odors, lightly soluble in water, soluble in alcohol, acetone, chloroform and acetic acid, and highly toxic. During the air analysis of carbon monoxide, air is collected in Tedlar bag or glass bulb and directly injected onto a gas chromatography (GC) column for thermal conductivity detector (TCD) detection. Air is drawn through a vacuum pump into the gas cuvette of a nondispersive infrared spectrophotometer. IR absorption by carbon monoxide is measured using two parallel IR beams through the sample and reference cell and a selective detector.
