Determining the concentration of gaseous hydrogen peroxide

A method of determining the concentration of hydrogen peroxide vapor in the presence of water vapor in an unknown sample containing both hydrogen peroxide and water vapors comprising:

• a. measuring the near infrared spectrum of a series of calibration samples constituting a calibration set containing known concentrations of hydrogen peroxide vapor, water vapor, and combinations thereof over at least one band within the region from about 900 to about 2000 nanometers, said at least one band including wavelengths at about 1420 nm and at least one band containing wavelengths selected from the group consisting of 915-930 nm, 1350-1400 nm, and 1830-2000 nm;
• b. obtaining a correlation between the measured spectrum and the known concentrations in the calibration set using a multivariant statistical technique;
• c. measuring the near infrared spectrum of said unknown sample over the said at least one band within the region from about 900 to about 2000 nanometers;
• and
• d. applying the multivariant statistical technique and the correlation from the calibration set to the near infrared spectrum of the unknown sample to calculate the concentration of hydrogen peroxide vapor therein.