Improvement in the Analytical Procedure for Total Organic Carbon Measurements in Particle-Containing Water Samples

Park, Da-So-Mi; Lee, Han-Saem; Rhee, Dong-Seok; Shin, Hyun-Sang

Research article

Journal of the Korean Society for Environmental Analysis 2019;22(2):41-49.
Published online June 30, 2019.

Improvement in the Analytical Procedure for Total Organic Carbon Measurements in Particle-Containing Water Samples

Da-So-Mi Park¹, Han-Saem Lee¹, Dong-Seok Rhee³, Hyun-Sang Shin¹

¹Department of Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul, 01811, Korea
²Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul, 01811, Korea
³Department of Environmental Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 24341, Korea

부유물질 포함 물시료의 총 유기탄소(TOC) 분석절차 개선에 대한 연구

박다소미¹, 이한샘¹, 이동석³, 신현상¹

¹서울과학기술대학교 환경공학과
²서울과학기술대학교 에너지환경공학과
³강원대학교 환경공학과

Correspondence: Hyun-Sang Shin, Tel: 82-2-970-6625, Fax: 82-2-970-5776,
Email: hyuns@seoultech.ac.kr

Received: 29 March 2019 • Revised: 10 May 2019 • Accepted: 15 May 2019

Abstract

In this study, we investigated analytical procedures for obtaining accurate and reliable total organic carbon (TOC) measurements in particle-containing water samples. Most TOC values obtained at several laboratories for cellulose particle-containing samples (20~100 μm, 10~100 mg-C/L) did not meet the quality control cri. ㅤ .ㅤ teria (i.e., 80%). Therefore, in this study, the influence of suspended particles (particle size, and concentration) on TOC analytical procedures (sample injection, purging time, washing, dilution etc.) and TOC measurements (accuracy and precision) was evaluated specifically for cellulose particle-containing water samples, and various other environmental samples (soil, road sediment, sewage sludge). Results of the washing experiment showed that about twice the washing volume was required, compared with that required in conventional TOC analysis for dissolved samples, for the removal of residual particles in the apparatus after the measurement. Also, a normal injection method was preferred for sample injection and an appropriate sample preparation method (without dilution) and proper concentration ranges (10~100 mg-C/L) are suggested based on the results of our study.

Key Words: TOC, Suspended Solid, QA/QC, Analysis Method, cellulose