Evolution of PeCOD®, the Rapid, Safe & Green Analyzer for BOD, COD and ‘Optimized’ TOC Analysis
MANTECH’s in-house R&D team continues to collaborate with our academic partners to improve and expand the application of our PeCOD® analyzer. As a result, the PeCOD® has undergone many iterations.
2014: MANTECH Manufactures First PeCOD® L100 Model
Historically, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) tests are very time-consuming, use hazardous reagents and require laboratory trained personnel to conduct. Oftentimes, the results are not delivered quickly enough for operators and engineers to effectively use to optimize their treatment processes.
The PeCOD® analyzer was created as a solution to these challenges.
Using technology originally used for treatment processes paired with safe reagents, the PeCOD® analyzer obtains results in a safe way. This makes it accessible for operators to use without formal laboratory training. In fact, the waste from analysis is cleaner than when it enters the analyzer, making it safe to dispose straight down the drain.
Additionally, PeCOD® obtains empirical results in just 10 minutes, unlike the COD by dichromate method (2-3 hours) or the 5-day BOD test, making it possible for operators to obtain timely results to make important treatment decisions.
2010-2018: Initial Industry Studies Conducted
From 2010-2018, studies were conducted on the use of the PeCOD® analyzer in a variety of industries including municipal wastewater & water treatment plants and food & beverage facilities. These studies revealed strong correlations between PeCOD results to COD by dichromate, 5-day BOD and TOC results which proved its usefulness and relevance to these industries.
The speed of analysis and strong correlation to BOD was also relevant for laboratories performing BOD analysis who encountered samples with little or no historical data. With PeCOD, analysts could pinpoint BOD dilutions which ensured they obtained valid BOD results in 5 days while saving them time and reagents.
2015 – Present Day: Multiple PeCOD® Configurations Offered
Like all MANTECH analyzers, the PeCOD® comes in many configurations to suit the requirements of the user. As a benchtop unit, it can be used within the plant or in the field as a portable unit with a battery pack. Multiple benchtop PeCODs or a benchtop PeCOD® connected to an autosampler can be used to analyze samples from multiple sample streams. The online configuration obtains real-time, hands-free results by directly sampling and analyzing from a sample stream.
Over time, these configurations were offered with our latest hardware:
2018-2020 (PeCOD Pro), 2021 – Present (MANTECH Pro): Software Included
In 2018, MANTECH began including our PeCOD Pro software package with every PeCOD purchase to allow users to store data, generate reports, visualize the PeCOD chemistry and more. This was changed to the more modern and user-friendly MANTECH Pro software once it became live in 2021.
2019: PeCOD® Redesigned
The L50 model was released as a more simple, robust, industrial, and cost-effective replacement for the L100 model.
2023: New Online PeCOD® Configurations Installed
In 2023, the newest online configurations of PeCOD® were installed featuring a more user-friendly human machine interface, Modbus TCP communication and option to analyze more parameters such as pH and alkalinity from a single system.
2022-Present: New Carbon in Soils Application Being Explored
The need for a rapid & safe soil carbon analyzer has become increasingly evident with the impacts of climate change. New research and studies are being conducted to explore how PeCOD® could be utilized for soil analysis.
Contact MANTECH to Learn More About the PeCOD® Analyzer
