ATTACHMENT B
24
PROCESSING OF FOAMS AND ANALYSIS
OF THE DUST COLLECTED BY THE CIP 10
INTRODUCTION
Open celled polyurethane foam is a carbon product, highly meshed, particu-
larly resistant to chemical agents, and stable. It can be washed, incinerated
or mineralized depending on the type of analysis to be performed.
WASHING
The foams are washable like clothes in a washing machine or by hand, and
can be reused after drying for any other weighing determinations.
The following method can be used to recover the dust by washing:
!
Let the foam soak in a warm solution of a wetting agent
!
Wring out with gloved fingers
!
Rinse, wring out, and rinse with a little wetting agent, and then with clean
water until obtaining a clean rinse water
!
Rinse the cup to recover the deposited dust and add that suspension to the
previous one
!
Filter and centrifuge to recover the dust
The quantity of dust likely to remain in the foam is generally negligible. It is gen-
erally recommended to use this method only with new foams and when collect-
ing a significant mass to avoid any interference.
Particles soluble in water or a solvent are extracted by simply being dissolved in
the appropriate liquid and the resulting solution is analyzed.
INCINERATION
The collection foam and collected dust can be incinerated to obtain ash that
can be analyzed by any appropriate physical or physicochemical method.
After determining the mass of the collected dust, this is the method:
!
Take a platinum incineration crucible and weigh it
!
Carefully extract the foam from the cup using tongs and place it in the cru-
cible
!
Rinse the cup with a little ethanol, and pour the resulting suspension on
the foam in the crucible. Repeat the rinsing several times if necessary in
order to completely extract the particles from the cup. Furthermore try to
obtain a uniform dampening of the foam
