The determination of ammonia and total ionic inorganic nitrogen in sea water

Abstract

Microdiffusion using a Cavett flask has been employed instead of vacuum distillation for the separation of ammonia from sea water; diffusion is approximately 75% complete after 24 h at 70°C. The recovered ammonia is determined by a modification of the phenate-hypochlorite method.Raney nickel in the presence of ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid has been used for the reduction of nitrate and nitrite to ammonia. The latter is separated by microdiffusion and determined colorimetrically. The method showed a coefficient of variation of 2·5% on a sample of sea water containingNo interference was encountered from a variety of organic nitrogen compounds.