Using near infrared measurements to evaluate NaCl and KCl in water

Spectral differences between aqueous solutions of NaCl and KCl have received minimal attention in previous research due to strong similarities between the two salts and the lack of motivation to differentiate between them. Correlations between salinity and absorbance have been developed previously with varying degrees of linearity but have not been tested to saturation. This work will demonstrate that correlating spectral measurements and the concentration of NaCl and KCl in water can be extended up to the saturation point of both salts and that solutions of these salts with unknown concentrations can be distinguished. Spectral data for samples of NaCl and KCl in single-salt solutions were collected up to saturation and correlations were developed for differentiating between solutions of the two species. These correlations were able to correctly identify the solution type for all solutions in the test set and estimate their concentrations with an average error of 0.9%.