Comparison of Colorimetric and Chromatography Methods for the Determination of Volatile Fatty Acids in Biological Phosphorus Removal Plants

摘要

A colorimetric method has been developed for the determination of volatile fatty acids in sludge samples. It was questioned if the method would work as well in raw wastewater and fermenter samples, and if a correlation could be established with this method between the total volatile fatty acids and the acetic and propionic fractions as determined by chromatography. In raw wastewater, the correlation between the chromatography and colorimetric method yielded a R~2 value of 0.9957. In a fermenter application the correlation between the chromatography and colorimetric method yielded a R~2 value of 0.8821. In both situations, using the colorimetric method to correlate total volatile acids and only the acetic and propionic fractions was found to be acceptable.