ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY

ECW568
OPEN-ENDED LAB
FEB 2019 – JULY 2019

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT : VOLATILE SUSPENDED SOLID

DATE OF EXPERIMENT : 12TH MARCH 2019
GROUP : EC2206C11B
GROUP MEMBERS 1. AIMAN HAKIM BIN ZAINUDDIN
2. MUHAMMAD MIRZA IZZAT BIN MOHD FUAD
3. TAQARRA KHALIDA AUDI BINTI ABDUL RAZAK
4. MOHAMAD SHAFIQ BIN SALEH UDDIN
5. HAFIZUDDIN BIN ZAKARE

LECTURER : DR. NURUL FARIHA BINTI LOKMAN

LEVEL OF OPENNESS : 1

MARKS COMMENTS
INTRODUCTION
BASIC CONCEPTS
METHODOLOGY
RESULTS&ANALYSIS 1 2 3 4 5
DISCUSSION 1 2 3 4 5
CONCLUSION 1 2 3 4 5
ORGANIZATION 1 2 3 4 5

TOTAL MARKS
INTRODUCTION
Volatile solids are the material lost after ignition at 550oC and those that remain as
residue is called Fixed solids. The determination of VSS is useful in control operation of
wastewater treatment plant operation because it offers a general rough approximation of the
amount of organic matter present in the wastewater, activated sludge, and industrial wastes.
In these laboratory activities, we are required to set-up volatile suspended solid test in
order to determine the concentration of volatile solids and fixed solids in water samples. At the
end of this laboratory activities, we are encouraged to acquire and develop sublime
psychomotor skills in conducting laboratory experiments.

OBJECTIVES
1. To determine the concentration of volatile solids and fixed solids in water samples.
2. To analyze the data and interpret the results of VSS experiment.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
The quality of surface waters is easily deteriorated by various human activities. A water sample
taken from Sg. Klang is to be examined. You are required to conduct Volatile Suspended Solid
test and identify both organic and inorganic matters in the water sample by using the
appropriate apparatus in environmental laboratory.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Total solids include both the suspended solids and the dissolved solids which are
obtained by separating the solid and liquid phase by evaporation. Suspended solids are a
combination of settle able solids and non-settle able solids, which are usually determined by
filtering a wastewater sample through a glass fiber filter contained in a Gooch crucible or
through a membrane filter. Settle able solids are those which usually settle in sedimentation
tanks during a normal detention period. This fraction is determined by measuring the volume of
sludge in the bottom of an Imhoff cone after 1h of settling
Solids remaining after evaporation or filtration are dried, weighted, and then ignited.
The loss of weight by ignition at 550 degree Celsius is a measure of the volatile solids, which
are classed as organic material. So, basically volatile suspended solids are determined by
igniting the dried filtered solids, at 550 C +/- 50 C in an electric muffle furnace. Dried solids
are burned for 15 to 20 mins. Loss of weight on ignition is reported as milligrams per litre
(mg/L) of volatile suspended solids.
APPARATUS
1. Analytical balance 2. Desiccators

3. Aluminium dishes 4. Muffle furnace

PROCEDURES
1. The aluminium dish was weight to the nearest 0.1g.
2. The sample with volume 25 mL is mixed and was added to the aluminium dish.
3. Place the sample in a preheated oven and evaporate at 103-105 °C for approximately 6 hours.
4. The dish was taken out of the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature in a desiccator.
5. After that weight the dish to the nearest 0.1g using the analytical balance.
6. The dish then transferred into preheated muffle furnace at 550 °C for 30 minutes and take the
dish out with thongs and let it cool to room temperature in desiccator.
7. Weight the dish to the nearest 0.1g and repeat ignition until 2 successive samples weighing
do not differ by more than 4% or 0.05g, which ever less.
8. The loss of weight is the total volatile solids. Weighted residue is total fixed solids.
RESULTS & ANALYSIS
RESULTS:
A weight (g) of solids + dish before ignition 1.2542 g
B weight (g) of solids + dish after ignition 1.1832 g
C weight (g) of dish 1.1589 g

CALCULATIONS:

Volatile Solids (mg/L) = ×106

= ×106

= 3550 mg/L

Fixed Solids (mg/L) = ×106

= ×106

= 1215 mg/L

DISCUSSION
In this experiment, we use the sample of wastewater that came from crude palm oil to
conduct the Volatile Suspended Solids laboratory. 20 ml of sample wastewater placed in the
aluminium dish and put inside the oven over 103-105 °C in 6 hours to remove the moisture and
only left the suspended solids. After 6 hours, the sample was left in the room temperature
before start weighing. The weight of solids before ignition is 3550 mg/L. For ignition process
in 30 minutes at 550°C leaving only activated residue or organic matter to be identify for
properties. The greater the concentration of organic matter or volatile solids, the stronger the
wastewater. Most of the suspended solid is loss due to high temperature condition. The weight
loss on ignition of the solid represents the volatile solids in the water sample. After 30 minutes,
we left the dish cool in room temperature and start weighing. The weight of solids after ignition
is 1215 mg/L. In the experiment, precaution while dealing with wastewater is crucial to prevent
any contact with the sample. Thus, handling the sample with latex glove is important in the
procedure. Besides that, it is also important to wear thick glove when getting the sample out of
the oven and furnace and use thong to hold the aluminium dish to avoid any accident in the
laboratory. Water that contains high levels of volatile solids is unsuitable for drinking. The
determination of volatile and fixed components in residue is useful to approximate the amount
of organic matter of the wastewater.
CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, the objective has been achieved which is to determine the concentration of
volatile solid and fixed solid in water sample and to analyze the data and interpret the results of
the VSS experiment. Based on the result that we obtained the VSS is 3550 mg/L and 1215
mg/L for fixed end solid which is quite bad according to the Malaysia water quality standard
for class I. Therefore, we can conclude that this water sample need to undergo water treatment
process before being distributed to the consumer. Fixed solid is defined as the inorganic
particle in the water sample. Therefore, the cloudier the water the higher the amount of
concentration of TSS and VSS. This will make the temperature of the water to increase due to
lack of DO as the plants that live inside the water cannot do the process of photosynthesis since
the sunlight is blocked. Due to this, a lot of marine life will die and the ecosystem will be
affected if the water is not treated immediately.

References
1. https://www.ebsbiowizard.com/total-suspended-solids-tss-volatile-suspended-solids-vss-2-
1071/
2. https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105104102/solids%202.htm