Development of a Thermal Evaporation Cell for Gas-Phase Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy of Compounds with Low Volatility

Abstract

To facilitate in-depth hazard prediction models, we must understand the spectral properties of expulsion plumes from conventional weapon attacks. Precise data on the spectral absorption of three chemical weapon agent simulants, in the infrared regime, are required to properly determine the mass of simulant in expulsion plumes from field demonstrations and small scale tests. Data for triethyl phosphate (a Soman simulant), triethyl phosphite (a Sarin simulant), and tributyl phosphate (a VX simulant) are presented. A thermal evaporation cell was designed and built that incorporated features that are not commercially available.