Abstract
New equipments and procedures to monitor in situ soluble salts content in stone materials were set up. They base on the extraction, by flowing ultrapure water, of soluble salts from stone surfaces and on the continuous registration of the real-time response of a conductometric probe; on the final collected solution, conductivity measure and analysis of anions by ionic chromatography can be performed in laboratory. A correlation between the signal obtained in situ and the chromatographic data was looked for; satisfying results were obtained but further investigation are needed in order to take into account all the involved parameters/variables and to extract the most significant index from the signal curve. It must be stressed that the actual normative on Cultural Heritage is scarce and in some case doesnt ensure a fully correct analytical procedure; anyway we compared our method with that indicated in the UNI11087. Surely a multivariate approach will be of help to optimize both the equipment and the procedure. The engineering of the apparatus must be improved too, so the presented results must be considered preliminary.
Keywords: Soluble salts, Stone materials, In situ monitoring, Conductivity
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