What is a Performance Evaluation of Analytical Equipment?

EffecTech®, in conjunction with their UKAS site accreditation according to ISO 17025, uses the international standard ISO 10723:2012 – Natural gas – Performance evaluation for on-line analytical systems to quantify the performance characteristics of your instrument.

What is ISO 10723?

ISO 10723:2012 – Natural gas – Performance evaluation for on-line analytical systems was issued in 2012 by ISO Technical Committee 193 and “describes a method for evaluating the performance of analytical systems intended for the analysis of natural gas.”

Applying the standard gives you a quantitative measures of the instrument’s performance which can be compared with a contractual specification or benchmark which has been set previously.

Objective

The objective of the performance evaluation is to give a measure of the instrument’s performance in terms of:

  • Component linearity
  • Repeatability of measurement
  • Errors that can be compared to Maximum Permissible Errors (MPE)
  • Bias that can be compared to Maximum Permissible Bias (MPB)

How it works

  • An experienced EffecTech Gas Quality engineer assesses the process gas chromatograph or analytical device on-site by injecting a suite of EffecTech ISO 17025 SRGMs with natural gas compositions for analysis.
  • The engineer then evaluates the performance of an instrument to determine errors, bias and uncertainty of the measurement. The ISO 10723 standard is applied to provide quantitative measurements of the instrument’s performance which can be compared against contractual specifications, regulatory requirements or other previously set benchmarks.

Principle

The analytical system is set up according to the manufacturer’s / supplier’s instructions for installation and operation. The system is examined by analysing reference gases, each made up of a mixture of components typically found in natural gas, with compositions covering a range wider than that for which the system has been specified.

  • The reference gases, prepared according to an appropriate standard, are injected into the analyser to assess:
    • The ability of the system to measure the components specified in the analytical method (system efficiency)
    • The repeatability of the measurement of individual components over their specified range
    • The relationship between response and concentration of individual components over their specified range
    • The absence of interference between components at different concentration ratios.

For more information, please contact us.