Validation Of Process Analyzers

The validation process assures the accuracy of new process analyzers and any other process analyzers in use. It also assures that the precision of a new process analyzer meets the specification requirements determined by the process engineers. The statistical tool known as Student's t-test is used for the validation process. A Student's t-test is used to determine if the on-line analyzer and laboratory method are in agreement at a given allowable false signal rate. The process capability index is used as a quantitative measure of the ability of an analyzer to meet specifications. This chapter provides a step-by-step example of how the validation process is used to compare a flow injection analyzer with a lab titration method for chlorine measurements. Calculation of the standard deviation can be simplified by using a spreadsheet program with a function that assumes its arguments are a sample of the population.