Simple analysis of odorous fatty acids in distillery effluents by capillary electrophoresis

The separation of short-chain carboxylic acids using capillary electrophore sis was already presented in several previ- ous studies. As this method app ears as a simple and fast alternative to more classical chromatographic app roaches, this paper describes its application to the analysis of malodorous fatty acids in distillery effluents. The operating conditions were modifie d in order to improve the sensitivity. A 100 mu m ID capillary combined wit h injection by electromigration led to detection limits in aqueous samples from 10 to 45 mu g.L-1. The ability of this method to analyse air samples w as also examined. The detection limits obtained are in the order of mu g.m( -3). This methodology was then applied to monitor the olfactory pollution o f a distillery. The results obtained enabled a modification of the process to be proposed in order to reduce the malodorous emissions.