Sunset Lab Analysis Method - Brochure

The OCEC laboratory instrument at Sunset Laboratory is used to analyze aerosol particles collected on quartz-fiber filters for both organic carbon and elemental carbon (OCEC). As with all current OCEC procedures, the analysis is methoddefined. It was also designed to address some of the specific problems observed in other methods in assigning carbon to either the organic or elemental fraction. By careful system control and continuous monitoring of the optical absorbance of the sample during analysis, this method is able to both prevent any undesired oxidation of original elemental carbon and make corrections for the inevitable generation of carbon char produced by the pyrolitic conversion of organics into elemental carbon.