EXPERIMENT 1: AMMONIACAL NITROGEN

NAME : AHMAD SYAHMI BIN MOHAMMAD

ID : 2017420226
GROUPMATES: MUHAMMAD NURHAZIQ BIN ZAINAL
NUR ATIKAH BINTI SABRI
LECTURER : DR SHARIFF BIN CHE IBRAHIM
INTRODUCTION:

- The presence of nitrogen is deemed as essential in the formation of cell.However, too much
nitrogen in our surrounding can be harmful.The excess nitrogen discharged in to wasterways
can leads to gradual changes of water bodies. It can also contribute to massive algae blooms
leading to oxygen depletion in water. In n the wastewater field we are concerned with
several forms of nitrogen: ammonia, organic, nitrate, and nitrite. Under the right conditions,
each of these forms is biologically convertible to one of the other forms. For this particular
experiment, we are determining the amount of ammoniacal nitrogen by using titration
method where indicator is added to the sample and then titraded with 0.02N sulfuric acid.

OBJECTIVES :

- To determine the total ammoniacal nitrogen present in waste water sample.

PROCEDURE:

Sample Preparation:

I. 100ml of wastewater sample is added to distillation flask. Then,25ml borate buffer is added.
II. The pH of the solution is adjusted to 9.5 with 20ml of 24% NaOH where 5 drops of
phenolphthalein indicator is added.

Distillation:

I. 25ml of plain boric acid and 3 drops of methyl red indicator is added to the conical flask.
II. The solution in the distillation flask is boiled and the distillated liquid is collected until about
50ml.
III. The collected distillate is transferred into other 3 smaller conical flask with a portion of 10ml
in each flask.
IV. The solution is then titrated with 0.02N sulfuric acid until pale pink solution is formed.
V. The step is repeated for blank by switching the wastewater sample with distilled water.

RESULT:

Titration QC, ml Titration Sample, ml Ammoniacal Nitrogen, mg/L

5.50 25.35 70.98
5.45 25.40 71.12
5.00 24.90 69.72

Calculation: (A-B) x 280/S

A=Vol of standard 0.02N H₂SO₄ used in titrating sample, ml

B= Vol of standard 0.02N H₂SO₄ used in titrating blank, ml

S= Vol of sample used, ml

Discussion:

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the amount of ammonical present in given
wastewater sample. There are a few methods available for this experiment, such as colorimetry,
titration and ammonia-selective electrode. In colorimetry, the ammonia concentration can be
determined by following the nesslerization procedure where it uses a potassium/mercury/iodine
chemical that reacts with ammonia, to form a yellow to brown-coloured compound. Next, is the
ammonia selective electrode method where the pH is adjusted to 11 and the concentration of
ammonia is determined from the change in electrical potential on the electrode. However, The
method used in this experiment is by distillation continued with titration of 0.02N of sulfuric acid.
Referring to the formula, we are able to calculate the amount of NH₃N, where 3 sample is used and
produce a result of (70.98,71.12,69.72)mg/L.

According to the standard palm oil mill effluent parameter released by Malaysian Department of the
Environment:

The standard limit accepted is 150 mg/L for ammoniacal nitrogen, since our calculated value did not
exceed the limit, we can say that our palm oil mill industry is doing its job in keeping the value in
control.

CONCLUSION:

At the end of this experiment, we managed to achieve our main objective which is to determine the
total ammoniacal nitrogen present in waste water sample.

REFERENCE:

1) APHA (1998), ‘Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater’, 20th
edition Eaton A.D., Clesceri L.S. and Greenburg A.E. (eds.), American Public Health
Association, Washington DC, ISBN: 0-87553-235-7
2) http://www.wepa-db.net/policies/law/malaysia/eq_surface.htm