Ultraviolet TESTS(General)

UV test will completely replace the hydrocarbon / PTT tests, firstly

because it is much quicker to carry out and secondly because it
provides far more information to the analyser. As you know, my
company supplies such equipment and even we have been surprised
how quickly the units are selling. But it perhaps not that surprising
because the charterers / cargo receivers expect the vessels to clean
to "aromatic / unsaturated / carbonyl / carb. acid" free rather than just
hydrocarbon / PTT and UV is a very straightforward and relatively
inexpensive way of satisfying these requirements without having to
send the officers on board to university for three years!
 
UV spectroscopy is able to detect different chemical groups and this
is particularly important for vessels tank cleaning from chemical
products that are aggressive to cargoes such as methanol and
glycols. Typically aromatics, inhibited cargoes (styrene, acrylonitrile,
vinyl acetate etc.) carbonyls, veg oils, lubes etc. can be identified
using UV, so the vessel is now able to know actually what is causing
the hydrocarbon / PTT to fail, rather than just knowing that it fails.
This provides significant help with tank cleaning, because we are able
to focus on the problem, rather than just cleaning in the dark.
 
The instrument referenced on pure DI water, rather than pure
methanol. This is because methanol itself has a typical UV response
and if you remove this response by referencing the instrument with
pure methanol, you can actually remove some of the sensitivity of the
instrument.
 
We have also noted that many more methanol shippers are
demanding the UV test on wall wash, first foot and export samples.
For example Mitsui in Al Jubail, Methanex at all of their loading
plants, VOPAK in Rotterdam. This is because the tyndall test (which
is a strict form of the hydrocarbon test) is reliant on the insolubility of
the hydrocarbon in water and for aromatics (in particular) there is
some solubility in water (toluene is almost 2000ppm) which
essentially means that up to 2000ppm of toluene in a wall wash
sample would actually appear invisible in the sample if the sample
was analysed by traditional means only. Clearly 2000ppm aromatics
in a wall wash sample would have an impact on a final loaded
sample.
 
Ultraviolet TESTS ( UV tests)
UV TEST of samples of methanol wall of cargo tank is used for
determining/ quantifying aromatics and vegetable oils in the methanol
solution.

There are specific range of  wavelengths at which aromatics and veg oil
absorb UV light. For this reason, methanol is wall washed on the
bulkheads in cargo tank and absorbance at specific wavelengths( for
veg oil or aromatics)as indicated in the spectrograph is used as a good
general indicator of the relative purity of methanol in terms presence of
aromatics or veg oils other contaminants.

A is defined as absorbance and  is characteristic of the substance under

study and of course, is a function of the wavelength.

Ultraviolet-visible spectrum
An ultraviolet-visible spectrum is essentially a graph of light absorbance
versus wavelength in a range of ultraviolet or visible regions.

The vertical axis in UV tests for each sample shows aborption and
horizontal axes shows  wavelengths.

For UV tests, the spectrophotometer is calibrated before each test using

Blank Methanol sample and analysed for transmittance/absorbance of
UV light and wavelengths effected and then followed by the wall
washed  methanol sample cargo tanks is again simlarly analysed for
transmittance/absorbance of UV light and wavelengths.

Each sample's absorbance against wavelength is the plotted in a graph

and used comparison between blank sample and wall washed sample.

For the tanks to be considered clean, the wall washed sample graph
should be as closed to the balnk sample as possible.

For some cargoes (eg Monoethylene Glycol at Yanbu,) wall wash is

done by swabbing/scrubbing bulkheads with mono ethylene glycol and
then the subsequent UV tests should pass with more that 98%
transmittance at specified wavelengths for the tank to be acceptable.
For methanol wall wash and loading, the UV tests requirement is
subject to Shipper and Receiver requirements. Methanol for discharge
at Far East ports from Persian Gulf does not require UV test.

However tests for hydrocarbon , PTT and Chloride are carried out. for
hydrocarbon tests again there is ASTM 1722 but survey companies
uses different methods and at Iranian ports, Punta Arenas, Trinidad
etc uses Tyndel Test i.e. the mixture of water and methanol sample in a
test tube, an intense sharp lightbeam (via penlight torch) is flashed
though the test tube in darkened room. The ensuing beam in the
methanol contained in the test tube should not have any grey/bluish
trace in order for the wall wash test for hydrocarbon to be considered
passed.

Some Chemists are of the view that if UV test is passed, then the
hydrocarbon  and PTT test is considered passed also.

7s Phenguard epoxy - Only accell recirculation, steamed and DI water

spray

2.5

1.5 pure meoh

after accell 4 2
1 before accell
0.5

0
200 250 300 350
 6p ZINC- Only accell recirculation, steamed and DI water spray

2.5

2
pure meoh
1.5 after di water
after recirc 8 1
1 after recirc 9 2
before recirc 9 1
0.5

0
200 250 300 350