Abstract
The exact estimation of biomass in the presence of carbonaceous carriers is an unresolved problem. Inaccuracy arises from the use of mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) determination as the measure of biomass, due to the volatilization properties of some carrier particles at 550°C. Problems are also associated with the differential ignition technique and nitric acid digestion technique, which are used instead of the MLVSS determination. Therefore, a method of calculating the biomass content by the determination of nitrogen in the mixed liquor suspended solids is proposed. In this paper, the proposed method is compared with the differential ignition technique. The Nitric acid digestion technique was not used in this study due to the explosive nature of one of the carbonaceous carriers when digested with nitric acid. It was found that calculation based on the nitrogen analysis gave a more reliable estimate of biomass in systems containing carbonaceous particles than the differential ignition technique.
