A titrimetric respirometer measuring the nitrifiable nitrogen in wastewater using insensor-experiment

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Wastewater Treatment

Background:

• Accurate measurement of nitrifiable nitrogen is crucial for effective wastewater treatment.
• Existing methods for nitrogen and biological oxygen demand (BOD) assessment can be complex or time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel in-sensor method for measuring nitrifiable nitrogen in wastewater.
• To combine respirometric and titrimetric principles for simultaneous BOD and nitrogen determination.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a prototype sensor to measure dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH in nitrifying activated sludge.
• Controlled pH via acid/base titration and calculated oxygen uptake rate (OUR).
• Employed stoichiometric relationships to determine nitrifiable nitrogen and short-term BOD from DO and titration data.

Main Results:

• The combined respirometric-titrimetric approach successfully calculated nitrifiable nitrogen and short-term BOD.
• Preliminary tests with two wastewater types demonstrated good correlation of results.
• The method relies solely on stoichiometric calculations for accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The developed in-sensor method offers a promising approach for rapid and accurate assessment of wastewater nitrogen content.
• This technique integrates readily available measurements (DO, pH) for efficient wastewater analysis.
• The study validates the stoichiometric basis for calculating key wastewater parameters.