§ 1065.516 Sample system decontamination and preconditioning.

This section describes how to manage the impact of sampling system contamination on emission measurements. Use good engineering judgment to determine if you should decontaminate and precondition your sampling system. Contamination occurs when a regulated pollutant accumulates in the sample system in a high enough concentration to cause release during emission tests. Hydrocarbons and PM are generally the only regulated pollutants that contaminate sample systems. Note that although this section focuses on avoiding excessive contamination of sampling systems, you must also use good engineering judgment to avoid loss of sample to a sampling system that is too clean. The goal of decontamination is not to perfectly clean the sampling system, but rather to achieve equilibrium between the sampling system and the exhaust so emission components are neither lost to nor entrained from the sampling system.