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vikkybh YaBB Newbies Offline I love Water and Wastewater.com Posts: 49 delhi Gender: Company or Organization: enviroway	O&G TEST Feb 12^th, 2010, 4:45am what should be the procedure for determining O&G in sample collected from aeration tank?
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Hennessy

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Re: O&G TEST
Reply #1 - Feb 13^th, 2010, 8:52am

Here's the responce to a similiar question that I had a while back. This test is very time consuming and the equipment costs a lot of money so usually the best thing to do is send out a sample to contract labratory. best regards-

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Re: testing FOG
Reply #6 - Nov 23rd, 2009, 10:18am Quote Hi Hennessy,
If you need a simple test for FOG use Standard Methods 5520B.
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PRS

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Re: testing FOG
Reply #7 - Nov 24th, 2009, 10:15am Quote Unfortunatley there is no easy/cheap way to test for FOG. The oil and grease is extracted from a sample using hexane. Hexane requires an explosion proof fume hood (upwards of $10,000 US), as once the FOG is extracted from the sample, the hexane is then evaporated off and the remaining residue is the FOG content of the sample. The most common test method is US EPA 1664A, there are modified forms of the method using extraction disks. The test can be labor intensive and requires attention to detail. If you are just wanting to do a few operational control measures, I recommend sending to a qualified commercial laboratory.
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Hennessy Ex Member	Re: O&G TEST Reply #2 - Feb 13^th, 2010, 8:56am Is your plant experiencing settleability or foaming problems right now? I don't want to jump too far ahead but it may be a good idea to check the oil and grease coming into your plant too. What type of wastewater are you treating?
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NorCal_Wastewater1

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Re: O&G TEST
Reply #3 - Feb 16^th, 2010, 1:47pm

If you think that FOG is an issue that is causing the foaming problem and you've performed or had a good microscopy exam done to verify that there are no filaments or other obvious bacteria causing the foaming then a thurough check of the influent to find the source(s) of the FOG will help eliminate the probelm by treating it at the source.

FOG is a critical impedement to any collection system, so the sooner it can be removed from the influent the better.

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Have a great day,

Dallas

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Jeff Naumann

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Re: O&G TEST
Reply #4 - Feb 16^th, 2010, 3:39pm

vikkybh wrote on Feb 12^th, 2010, 4:45am:

what should be the procedure for determining O&G in sample collected from aeration tank?

Responding directly to your question, I would assume that the test procedure is the same as for any other "water" sample.

I've been involved in waste water long enough to see the required test procedure literally return back to the same method that it was common forty years ago, after a few detours with somewhat different equipment, and certainly different solvents. I did many many O&G tests with hexane before the pleistocene era without needing a hood of any type. We used a soxhlet apparatus, hexane, steam bath, simple lab oven, and a balance. If you have any kind of existing lab you probably have all or most of this equipment.

I also had the pleasure of knowing Dr. Richard Pomeroy, who developed the "partition-extraction method in 1949. He was an old friend of my lab boss at the Port of Los Angeles, in that they both attended Cal Tech in the early 1920's. Dr. Pomeroy also developed the methylene blue field test for sulfide.

I even used to do O&G tests with carbon tetrachloride before it was deemed almost as nasty as black mold, or even asbestos. Wink

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Jim Royer

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Re: O&G TEST
Reply #5 - Feb 17^th, 2010, 9:11am

Just follow standard procedures to perform the FOG analysis as with any water sample. If you are interested in FOG in the solids you can do a soxhlet extraction. A study just needs a consistent method to compare different situations.
As far a FOG causing foam, that has been studied. Dominic Frigon did a U of I doctorate degree study here at the WWTP in Urbana IL. Seasonal bypassing of the primary clarifier allowed more FOG into the activated sludge system and foaming ensued. Jenkins has done a lot of identification of the organisms that cause the foaming. These organisms were enumerated versis the FOG entering the system and corrilated.

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grrun

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Re: O&G TEST
Reply #6 - Apr 14^th, 2010, 11:33pm

Unfortunately, the various solvents that have been used at present and in the past will extract other compounds as well as "oil & grease" The USEPA has conceeded that animal and vegatable fats may not be as harmful as petroleum oils. Other than that concession; other extractable compounds have not been addressed. Gravimetric determinations of "FOG" do not consider the possibility of compounds, other than oil to be extracted. The Chinese will run an IR scan on the solvent which reduces the likelihood of other extractable compounds being mistaken for oil. I've had to use this technique in the past to demonstrate that the gravimetric concentration for oil was in error for my WWTP discharge.

I can't think of the guy's name, but I think he worked for E.F. Houghton that extracted a large variety of pure chemical solutions (that were free of oil) trying to convince the USEPA that their oil test measured things other than oil.

grrun

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Jeff Naumann

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Re: O&G TEST
Reply #7 - Apr 15^th, 2010, 7:11am

grrun wrote on Apr 14^th, 2010, 11:33pm:

Unfortunately, the various solvents that have been used at present and in the past will extract other compounds as well as "oil & grease" The USEPA has conceeded that animal and vegatable fats may not be as harmful as petroleum oils. Other than that concession; other extractable compounds have not been addressed. Gravimetric determinations of "FOG" do not consider the possibility of compounds, other than oil to be extracted. The Chinese will run an IR scan on the solvent which reduces the likelihood of other extractable compounds being mistaken for oil. I've had to use this technique in the past to demonstrate that the gravimetric concentration for oil was in error for my WWTP discharge.

I can't think of the guy's name, but I think he worked for E.F. Houghton that extracted a large variety of pure chemical solutions (that were free of oil) trying to convince the USEPA that their oil test measured things other than oil.

grrun

Hi George:

I guess that I'm not surprised from that finding. My understanding was always that each variation of the so-called "oil and grease" test produced it's own results that depended upon the exact method and solvent used.

Anyone that has spent some time in labs working with solvents finds that some solvents are "better" at dissolving things than other solvents. As a young "junior chemist" at a refinery lab, where many of our samples were petroleum mixtures while others were waste waters, we had 1-gallon cans with petcocks at the ends of each bench, one can containing benzene and one can containing acetone. We used the benzene to "cut" the petroleum from labware and the acetone to dry the beakers and flasks. Plastic squirt bottles of acetone and benzene were also used. In other words, we had lots of nasty solvents around, which availed us lab monkeys of being exposed on a continual basis. Carbon tetrachloride was used as the extracting solvent for our "oil and grease" tests.

It's no wonder that I have six ears on one side of my head. Wink

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