Faqs

Summary FAQ's

Is there a Conductivity Conversion table?

See X-tra Info for the Conductivity Conversion table.

Can I measure the amount of Sodium Chloride in blast medium?

You can measure the amount of Sodium Chloride / contamination in blast media. To do this please see the manual of your Bresle kit.

The contractor requests a Salt contamination measured in ppm. Is this egual to mg/m2?

No, these two results are not equal. The unit ppm is a volumetric unit, where mg/m2 describes a surface area. The concentration in ppm can at best only describe the salt concentration in the 15 ml cup. When a contractor requires the contamination level to be measured in ppm’s always request an analysis protocol to prevent wrong measurements.

Why do I need to be accurate with the 15 ml water volume?

This volume needs to be  measured with accuracy. Deviation in volume can account for great inaccuracy. A difference in volume of 1ml will cause a measurement error of 6%.

Does it matter if I inject 3 or 5 ml into the patch?

It does not matter if you inject 3 or 5 ml in the patch. The only real requirement is that you inject enough deionised water to wash the surface, but not that much water for the patch to burst open. The chosen amount of water has no influence on the final result. The amount of water between 3 and 5 ml is sufficient to wash the surface. It is never possible to wash off more salts than present on the surface. In a volume of 3 ml it is possible to dissolve 300 mg of sodium chloride. This would result in a salt contamination of 2449 mg/m2 as Sodium Chloride. This value exceeds every possible expectable level of contamination.

Is the concentration in mg/m2 equal to µg/cm2?

The results are not equal. 1µg per cm2 is equal to 10 mg/m2. 

According to the specifications I need to give the results as Chloride instead of Sodium Chloride is this possible?

Yes this is possible. The standard results of the Bresle kit are obtained as mg/m2 Sodium Chloride. When only chloride has to be shown the obtained result in mg/m2 as Sodium Chloride has to be divided by 1.667 to acquire results in mg/m2 as chloride.

What is the difference between the factors 5 and 6?

The factor 6 is the standard factor for use with the Bresle kit. Herewith obtained results are stated as mg/m2 measured as Sodium chloride. The factor 5 is acquired by field studies, and compensates to not a pure sodium chloride contamination but to a mixture. The exact composition of this mixture is not known. Practically the factor 5 can give better results comparing to the total salt concentration. The factor 5 is also named Total Soluble salts.

Why do I need to perform a blank measurement?

The blank measurement needs to be performed to ensure that the deionised water is of sufficient quality. When your deionised water has a high conductivity this could seriously disturb the measurement.

My blank measurement is higher than my final reading, what does this mean?

Most likely you have had a contaminated meter. This error can not be compensated and you need to redo the complete analysis.