Abstract
This work presents a new technique based on converting IR absorbance of each element and that of a mixture into phasors. Projecting the mixture phasor vector on that of each component results in the concentration of this component in the mixture. This novel technique, when compared with existing pattern recognition techniques, makes it easy to analyze the constituents of a mixture with high accuracy in the presence of traces of unknown components. It is found that the new algorithm is capable of detecting the presence of oil in water samples containing many other unknown polluting elements up to 0.1 mg/L. This new algorithm is tested on laboratory contaminated samples and then used to monitor pollution by lubricating oil in an industrial zone.