Method for Monitoring and Control of a Wastewater Process Stream

A method of detecting a nonpolar contaminant in a fluid having a polarity and a turbidity, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a solvatochromatic tracer having a detectable change in fluorescence in the fluid that occurs in the presence of the nonpolar contaminant, wherein the detectable change in the fluorescence includes a shifting fluorescence emission wavelength that shifts depending on the polarity of the fluid;
• b) introducing the solvatochromatic tracer into the fluid;
• c) measuring a fluorescent property of the solvatochromatic tracer after the solvatochromatic tracer is introduced into the fluid;
• d) providing a correction factor that corresponds to the degree to which the turbidity of the fluid scatters the fluorescence of the solvatochromatic tracer in the presence of the nonpolar contaminant and that takes into account the shifting fluorescent emission wavelength of the solvatochromatic tracer;
• e) adjusting the detected fluorescence property according to the correction factor to provide a corrected fluorescent property;
• and
• f) detecting the nonpolar contaminant in the fluid using the corrected fluorescent property.

A method of detecting a nonpolar contaminant in a fluid having a polarity and a turbidity, comprising the steps of:

• a) introducing a solvatochromatic tracer into the fluid, wherein the solvatochromatic tracer has a detectable change in fluorescence in the fluid that occurs in the presence of the nonpolar contaminant, wherein the detectable change in the fluorescence includes a shifting fluorescence emission wavelength that shifts depending on the polarity of the fluid and wherein the fluorescence has a detectable fluorescence property that depends on an amount of the specific non-polar contaminant in the fluid;
• b) measuring a fluorescent property of the fluid after introducing the solvatochromatic tracer into the fluid;
• c) correcting the measured fluorescence property taking into account the degree to which the turbidity of the fluid scatters the fluorescence of the solvatochromatic tracer in the presence of the nonpolar contaminant and that takes into account the shifting fluorescent emission wavelength of the solvatochromatic tracer that shifts depending on the polarity of the fluid;
• and
• d) detecting the nonpolar contaminant in the fluid using the corrected fluorescent property.

A method of detecting a nonpolar contaminant in a fluid having a polarity and a turbidity, comprising the steps of:

• a) introducing a solvatochromatic tracer into the fluid, wherein the solvatochromatic tracer has a detectable change in fluorescence that occurs in the presence of the nonpolar contaminant, wherein the detectable change in the fluorescence includes a spectral shift depending on the polarity of the fluid;
• b) measuring a fluorescent property of the fluid after introducing the solvatochromatic tracer into the fluid;
• c) correcting the measured fluorescence property to provide a corrected fluorescent property taking into account the degree to which the turbidity of the fluid scatters the fluorescence of the solvatochromatic tracer in the presence of the nonpolar contaminant and that takes into account the spectral shift;
• and
• d) detecting the nonpolar contaminant in the fluid using the corrected fluorescent property.

A method of detecting a nonpolar contaminant in wastewater having a polarity and a turbidity, comprising the steps of:

• a) adding a solvatochromatic tracer into a flowing fluid sample obtained from the wastewater, wherein the solvatochromatic tracer has a detectable change in fluorescence that occurs with changes in the amount of the nonpolar contaminant in the fluid sample, wherein the detectable change in the fluorescence includes a spectral shift that depends on the polarity of the fluid sample;
• b) measuring the changing fluorescent property and the changing spectral shift of the flowing fluid sample that includes the added solvatochromatic tracer;
• c) correcting the changing measured fluorescent property to provide a corrected fluorescent property that takes into account the degree to which the turbidity of the wastewater scatters the fluorescence of the solvatochromatic tracer in the presence of the nonpolar contaminant and that takes into account the changing spectral shift;
• d) detecting the nonpolar contaminant in the wastewater using the corrected fluorescent property;
• and
• e) in response to detecting the nonpolar contaminant in the wastewater, adding a functional chemical to the wastewater to treat the wastewater.

A method of detecting a specific nonpolar contaminant in a fluid having a polarity and a turbidity, comprising the steps of:

• a) introducing a solvatochromatic tracer into the fluid, wherein the solvatochromatic tracer has a detectable change in fluorescence in the fluid that occurs in the presence of the specific nonpolar contaminant, wherein the detectable change in the fluorescence includes a shifting fluorescence emission wavelength that shifts depending on an amount of the specific non-polar contaminant in the fluid;
• b) measuring a fluorescent property of the fluid after introducing the solvatochromatic tracer into the fluid, wherein the measured fluorescent property is a known characteristic of the solvatochromatic tracer in the presence of the specific nonpolar contaminant;
• c) correcting the measured fluorescence property taking into account the degree to which the turbidity of the fluid scatters the fluorescence of the solvatochromatic tracer in the presence of the specific nonpolar contaminant and that takes into account the shifting fluorescent emission wavelength of the solvatochromatic tracer that shifts depending on the polarity of the fluid;
• and
• d) detecting the specific nonpolar contaminant in the fluid using the corrected fluorescent property.