[Experimental Conditions and Reliability Analysis of Results of COD components]

The present study attempts to use SF( OUR(max)/OUR(en)) instead of S(0)/X(0) as an index of optimal initial conditions for determination of COD components by means of respirometry, thereby simplifying the measuring process and the operation can be automated. Further, the ratio of COD consumed by the growth of biomass can be used for the reliability assessment of results. Experimental results show that, experimental conditions for obtaining good results as follows: (1) for samples that composed of a large amount of easily biodegradable components (e. g., synthetic wastewater made by sodium acetate), SF should be in the range of 2.8 to 5.3, and the ratio of COD consumed by growth of biomass should be less than 30%; (2) for samples that composed of both readily biodegradable and slowly biodegradable components (i. e., typical domestic wastewater), SF should be in the range of 5.8 to 6.4, and the ratio of COD consumed by growth of biomass should be less than 30%; (3) and for samples that composed of a large amount of slowly biodegradable industrial wastewater (i. e., landfill leachate), SF should be 15 or less, and the ratio of COD consumed by growth of biomass should be approximately 40%. Therefore, when respirometry is used for the determination of COD components, the optimal conditions in terms of SF increase with the complexity of carbon source.