ADITYA

ENVIRONMENTAL
SERVICES PVT LTD

S.O.P. for
:Determination of
organic carbon and
organic matter in Soil

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Revision No.
Revision Date
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AESPL/LAB/S/P/07
00
01/08/2012
1 of 1
5.4

Scope: To determine the Organic Carbon and Organic

Responsibility : Chemist
Reference: Manual of Soil testing in India(Department of Agriculture &co-operation, Ministry of
agriculture (Government of India),IS:2720 (Part XXII)-1972
Principle: Organic Carbon is determined by titrating the solid sample with known amount of
Potassium dichromate in the presence of concentrated sulphuric acid, Oxidation of organic carbon
by potassium dichromate Volumetric method.(Walkley and Black,1934)
2K2Cr2O7 + 8H2SO4 2K2SO4 +2Cr2(SO4)3 + 8H2O+6(O)
3C(Organic carbon)+6H2O3CO2
The excess chromic acid left unutilized by the organic matter is back titrated with FAS by using
diphenylamine indicator
Apparatus :
Measuring Cylinder : 50 7250ml
Analytical Balance
:
Pipette -10ml
Conical Flask 500ml
Reagent :
a)Potassium Dichromate (1.0N):Dissolve 49.04gm of dried Potassium Dichromate AR grade in
1000ml distilled water
b)Sulphuric acid(Conc)Sp.Gr.1.84
c)Diphenylamine indicator :Dissolve 0.5g of Diphenylamine in a mixture of 100ml concH2SO4
and 20 ml distilled water
d)Ferrous ammonium sulphate(1.0N):Dissolve 392.2g of FAS in 1000ml of distilled water
containing 20ml Sulphuric acid
e)Sodium Fluoride
f)O-Phosphoric Acid(85%): Mix 85ml of ortho-phosphoric acid(100%) and 15ml of distilled water

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ADITYA
ENVIRONMENTAL
SERVICES PVT LTD

S.O.P. for
:Determination of
organic carbon and
organic matter in Soil

Document No.
Revision No.
Revision Date
Page No.
Clause Ref.

:
:
:
:
:

AESPL/LAB/S/P/07
00
01/08/2012
1 of 2
5.4

Procedure :
Take 0.25g of oven dried sample thoroughly grind through 0.2mm sieve.
Transfer this to 500ml conical flask and add 10ml 1N K2CR2O7 solution
To it add 20mlConc.H2SO4 and mix gently by rotation to ensure complete contact.
Allow the mixture to stand for 30minutes
Add 200ml distilled water,10ml phosphoric acid and 0.2 g of sodium fluoride and 1ml
of diphenyl amine indicator
Titrate the solution with 1N FAS solution. The color is dull green at the beginning and
then shift to turbid blue as the titration proceeds .At the end point the color sharply turns
to brilliant green.
Keep the blank titration without sample and follow the same procedure.
Calculation :
1) Organic Carbon % = { 10-{10S/B}x 0.333 x 100
0.77
wt
Where,
S= ml of FAS used for sample titration
B = ml of FAS for blank titration
Wt=Weight of the soil sample taken in gm.
0.77=It is recovery factor i.e. recovery of 77% of organic matter is considered
Note : One ml of 1N Potassium dichromate is equivalent to 3mg of of Carbon
2) % Organic Matter =%C x 1.724
The factor 1.724 is based on the assumption that Carbon is only 58% Organic matter

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