Dy. Tseng et al., A FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC-MATTERDEGRADATION IN A BENCH-SCALE SOLID SUBSTRATE FERMENTATION (COMPOSTING) SYSTEM, Biotechnology and bioengineering, 52(6), 1996, pp. 661-671
The degradation of organic matter was evaluated by a quantitative Four
ier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis technique. The deg
radation process was conducted in a bench-scale reactor under controll
ed operational conditions of 50 degrees C, with 50-60% moisture conten
t, and subjected to uniform aeration for 325 h. During the composting
process, ATP concentration increased from 0.1 to 8 mu g/g and the maxi
mum CO2 evolution and O-2 consumption rates reached 0.04 and 0.085 mmo
l/g-h, respectively. Polysaccharide content decreased approximately 50
% while lignin content remained unchanged. Three regions of the FTIR s
pectra were used for quantification: 1070-974, 1705-1614, and 2995-288
7 cm(-1), which correspond to polysaccharides and aromatic and aliphat
ic compounds, respectively. The actual spectra quantification consiste
d of peak identification using a second derivative and curve fitting t
echnique, followed by normalization using the internal standard CaCO3.
The results obtained with the spectra quantification technique was th
en compared to commonly used wet chemistry extraction procedures. Reas
onable correlation between the two techniques was obtained. (C) 1996 J
ohn Wiley & Sons, Inc.