
——摘自美国国家标准《Standard_Methods_for_the_Examination_of_Water_and_Wastewater 20th Edition》
1. General Discussion
a. Principle: The residue from Method B, C, or D is ignited to constant weight at 550°C.
The remaining solids represent the fixed total, dissolved, or suspended solids while the weight
lost on ignition is the volatile solids. The determination is useful in control of wastewater
treatment plant operation because it offers a rough approximation of the amount of organic
matter present in the solid fraction of wastewater, activated sludge, and industrial wastes.
b. Interferences: Negative errors in the volatile solids may be produced by loss of volatile
matter during drying. Determination of low concentrations of volatile solids in the presence of
high fixed solids concentrations may be subject to considerable error. In such cases, measure for
suspect volatile components by another test, for example, total organic carbon (Section 5310).
Highly alkaline residues may react with silica in sample or silica-containing crucibles.
2. Apparatus
See Section 2540B.2, Section 2540C.2, and Section 2540D.2.
a. Evaporating dishes: Dishes of 100-mL capacity made of one of the following materials:
1) Porcelain, 90-mm diam.
2) Platinum—Generally satisfactory for all purposes.
3) High-silica glass.#(44)*
b. Muffle furnace for operation at 550°C.
c. Steam bath.
d. Desiccator, provided with a desiccant containing a color indicator of moisture
concentration or an instrumental indicator.
e. Drying oven, for operation at 103 to 105°C.
f. Analytical balance, capable of weighing to 0.1 mg.
g. Magnetic stirrer with TFE stirring bar.
h. Wide-bore pipets.#(45)†
i. Graduated cylinder.
j. Low-form beaker.#(46)‡
k. Glass-fiber filter disks#(47)* without organic binder.
l. Filtration apparatus: One of the following, suitable for the filter disk selected:
1) Membrane filter funnel.
2) Gooch crucible, 25-mL to 40-mL capacity, with Gooch crucible adapter.
3) Filtration apparatus with reservoir and coarse (40- to 60-µm) fritted disk as filter
support.#(48)†
m. Suction flask, of sufficient capacity for sample size selected.
n. Drying oven, for operation at 180 ± 2°C.
o. Aluminum weighing dishes.
3. Procedure
Ignite residue produced by Method 2540B, C, or D to constant weight in a muffle furnace at
a temperature of 550°C. Ignite a blank glass fiber filter along with samples. Have furnace up to
temperature before inserting sample. Usually, 15 to 20 min ignition are required for 200 mg
residue. However, more than one sample and/or heavier residues may overtax the furnace and
necessitate longer ignition times. Let dish or filter disk cool partially in air until most of the heat
has been dissipated. Transfer to a desiccator for final cooling in a dry atmosphere. Do not
overload desiccator. Weigh dish or disk as soon as it has cooled to balance temperature. Repeat
cycle of igniting, cooling, desiccating, and weighing until a constant weight is obtained or until
weight change is less than 4% or 0.5 mg, whichever is less. Analyze at least 10% of all samples
in duplicate. Duplicate determinations should agree within 5% of their average weight. Weight
loss of the blank filter is an indication of unsuitability of a particular brand or type of filter for
this analysis.
4. Calculation
where:
A = weight of residue + dish before ignition, mg,
B = weight of residue + dish or filter after ignition, mg, and
C = weight of dish or filter, mg.
5. Precision
The standard deviation was 11 mg/L at 170 mg/L volatile total solids in studies by three
laboratories on four samples and 10 replicates. Bias data on actual samples cannot be obtained.
