Customized GC Deployments and Support for HON Rule Compliance and HAPs Monitoring at the Fenceline
Spectrum Environmental Solutions offers fully managed mobile Gas Chromatograph deployments for real-time ambient air monitoring, designed for detection and quantification of trace-level volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We work closely with clients to develop, deploy, and support GC monitoring solutions that align with each facility’s risk profile, chemical inventory, and compliance requirements.
With the EPA’s updated Hazardous Organic NESHAP (HON) fenceline air monitoring rule, these systems have become especially valuable for facilities that need rapid, reliable data to identify emission sources, conduct root-cause analysis, and support corrective action.
GC Monitoring Services
Spectrum’s experts handle each GC system’s configuration, deployment logistics, data management, and ongoing maintenance to ensure each site’s monitoring program is successful. This full-service approach allows facilities to meet regulatory expectations without dedicating internal staff to the time-consuming task of sample retrieval and coordination.
While many facilities begin with time-integrated methods to meet monitoring requirements, these approaches have practical limitations. Under Method 325 A/B (Chloroprene, Benzene, 1-3 Butadiene, Ethylene dichloride), passive sample tubes are to be deployed for 14-day periods at a minimum of twelve locations, resulting in approximately 312 samples annually. Method 327 (Ethylene oxide and vinyl chloride) involves collecting 24-hour canister samples every five days from at least eight sample locations, totalling more than 580 samples each year. Each sample must be handled, documented, and shipped to a lab, often with turnaround times that stretch several days or weeks.
These traditional time-integrated sampling methods may satisfy detection thresholds, but they present several operational and data quality limitations:
- Lack of immediate feedback on the data collected
- Inability to capture short-term or episodic events
- Partial spatial coverage, leaving gaps along the fenceline
- Data influenced by shifting wind patterns over extended sampling intervals, obscuring source direction
- Labor-heavy sample collection and coordination requirements
Spectrum’s mobile GC services address these challenges by delivering real-time data that not only supports faster identification and response to emission events but also reduces the internal sampling burden associated with time-integrated monitoring methods.
GC Capabilities and Performance
When fenceline concentrations exceed action levels of one of the six air toxics and the root cause cannot be determined within thirty days, the HON rule mandates that facilities deploy real-time monitoring technologies. In these cases, our mobile GC systems provide a compliant and field-proven solution for source identification.
Housed in compact, climate-controlled trailers, these automated systems deliver 15- to 20-minute analysis cycles with detection limits reliably below 0.3 parts per billion. These detection limits are below one-third of the HON action levels specified in 40 CFR Part 63 for alternative methods.
The systems are preconfigured to monitor key hazardous air pollutants, including:
- Vinyl chloride
- Ethylene dichloride
- Benzene
- 1,3 butadiene
In addition to pre-configured targets, we can develop custom GC methods to detect other site-specific VOCs or hazardous air pollutants.
Coupled with integrated meteorological sensors, Spectrum’s mobile GC platforms offer a clear path to understanding source contributions. By correlating real-time concentration data with wind direction and speed, facilities can more accurately trace emissions back to their origin. This capability is particularly valuable in areas with multiple nearby emitters, allowing facilities to account for upwind sources and support fair, defensible reporting.
Tailored Monitoring Solutions
Spectrum’s GC deployments are just one component of our full-service environmental monitoring portfolio. We also design and operate open-path optical fenceline monitoring programs, ideal for continuous, long-range detection across complex facility fencelines. By combining our world-class technologies and services, we help clients build air monitoring networks that address their specific operational and regulatory objectives.
Our service offerings include:
- Reliable open-path measurement equipment: DetectUV™-DOAS-OP and the WaveRunIR™-OP.
- Customized method development and analyte targeting
- Turnkey field deployment
- Custom in-house software development and dashboard integration
- Regulatory guidance and reporting support
- Remote diagnostics, maintenance, and technical support
