Rapid Determination of Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen Using Microwave Digestion

Abstract

A closed-vessel microwave digestion process for the determination of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) has been developed for sewage and wastewater. TKN values obtained from the microwave digestion method were in excellent agreement with those of the thermal digestion method. The accuracy of both analytical methods is comparable. In comparison to the conventional thermal digestion, the microwave method shortened the time required for complete digestion from 4 h to 25 min, and also decreased the maximum digestion temperature from 380 °C to 200 °C. This developed method may contribute to a significant reduction in sample digestion time, resulting in an increase in analytical throughput. The microwave digestion method developed in this study could be a rapid and efficient means for TKN determination for sewage wastewater and sludge.

Keywords:

• Microwave digestion
• Kjeldahl nitrogen determination
• Sewage wastewater
• Sewage sludge

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the research funding provided by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Notes

*Mean ± s.d.

⁺Based on the block digestion value.