Determination of Ammonia in Household Cleaners

An Instrumental Analysis Experiment

Richard C. Graham 1 Science Research Laboratory, United States Military Academy, West Point, Steven DePew %epartment o& 'hemistry, United States Military Academy, West Point, ! 1"##$

! 1"##$Many different kinds of solutions contain ammonia. Some of the most common types of preparations are the household cleaners. Ammonia has been shown to be an effective grease cutter, and thus, the presence of ammonia is a desirable addition to the formulation. Among the many different methods which have been used to determine ammonia is the Nesslerization technique. !ne use of this technique is to determine the amount of ammonia which is produced by certain enzymatic reactions. A ma"or problem with this technique is the potential interference of many of the alkyl amines. A second method which has been used to determine ammonia in soaps and detergents is the electrode method wherein a gas permeable membrane combination electrode is used. #$ As with the Nesslerization technique, many of the alkyl amines interfere with the method. A third common method in use is ion e%change chromatography &such as with the '(!N)* (on +hromatograph, which actually determines the presence of ammonium ion.

-he disadvantages of each of these methods make it desirable to e%plore alternative methods. A method, which has found application for determination of weak &p.f a / 0, mono and polyprotic acids, is to monitor the heat produced during a neutralization reaction. 1 -he equivalence point is noted by a sharp break in the titration curve rather than inflection point as with potentiometric monitoring of the titration. -his procedure is easily modified to determine quantitatively such analytes as ammonia in solution.
Experimental
-hermometric titration data were obtained with a (R) A' model 123 adiabatic titration calorimeter. -emperature in the water bath surrounding the reaction vessel was maintained at 2.333 4+ 5 3.3336 4+ by a -7!NA+ model 8-+ temperature controller. 'ata were taken by titrating 23 ml of an ammonia solution &diluted with freshly boiled deionized water to maintain the titration curve on scale, with a 3.19:9 N solution of hydrochloric acid. -he equivalence point was taken as the first sharp break which occurs in the titration run. See the figure for a typical titration run. A total of four different household cleaners were e%amined.

Results and Discussion

( 2):

-he titration of the ammonia present was assumed to follow, for reasons of simplistic interpretation, eqns. &9, and
N; 1 !; << N; 1 = = !;< > 1. * 1!"#
(1 )
14

0 H- + H ^= H 2 0 1 /K W = 1 0

(2)

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. ?Standard Methods for the 91th )d., 7and, M. +., Breenberg, American 8ublic ;ealth Association, @ashington, '.+., 1$%&. 6 Analytical Methods Buide,A :th )d., !rion (nstrument +o., +am< bridge, MA, 1$% .

)%amination A. ).,

of and

@ater Caras,

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@astewater,A C,,
[Editors)

AModern New Gork, 1$%' (

in A typical

-itrimetryEA

-reatise,F

1 See, for e%ample, ;ansen, L * %*, +hristensen, C. +*, and (zatt, 7. MD AApplications of -hermometric -itrimetry to Analytical +hemistry,A Cordan, C. & Editor) Marcel 'ekker,

thermometric

titration

o&

an

ammonia,containin-

household

cleaner

.ith hydrochloric acid*

Summar) of Household Cleaner Ammonia Content( Price( and Relative Price*+ole Ratio
'ost4561 Mole "*1< ;*11 "*;; "*#:

/ousehold 'leaner 7o Peep8 (op +ob8 Parson s8 A>ax8

0olume #9$ ml =:" ml =:" ml 1":= ml

Price 5"*:9 51*1< 5"*:$ 51*;?

ormality1 23 ;*"$<#1:,$2 "*$$<#11*1:2 ;*""1 1:*92 1*:"" 1;*;1 2

)btained by titration o& ?" ml o& a diluted household cleaner .ith /'I*

-he table gives a summary of the household cleaners used, their respective prices, molarity, and relative price.mole ratio. (n this e%periment, the student is asked to "udge the best buy of the household cleaners based solely on the criterion

of relative cost of ammonia present. -he table gives a sample set of results obtained. (n this particular studentHs e%periment Io 8eep was "udged to be the most cost effective on the basis of ammonia content only. -he wide disparity of cost for the ammonia can be partially e%plained by the fact that many of the household cleaners in addition to the ammonia also contain surfactants or buffering agents such as sodium citrate or sodium carbonate. -hese additional components are evidenced in the titration as multiple slopes within the same titration &see figure,. As with any titration where equilibrium is established very rapidly, each component of the solution reacts sequentially depending upon the relative magnitudes of the equilibrium constants. -he enthalpy of protonation is, however, different for each component which is e%hibited by a differing slope since the slope is proportional to the enthalpy of the reaction. -he ammonia content of the solution is determined from the
0olume $" umber # September 1#=: <$?

JKK

portion of the titration curve having the same slope as the titration of a standard solution of reagent grade ammonium hydro%ide of comparable concentration. -he height of the curve is proportional to the concentration. -hus from the titration curve, the identity and the amount of ammonia can be determined. No attempt was made to quantify or identify the surfactant portions of the cleaners.

+ournal o& 'hemical Education