Enzymatic Method for Rapid Determination of Oxalic Acid in Bleaching Filtrates from the Pulp and Paper Industry

Bleaching with oxygen-containing agents and recirculation of process streams in the pulp and paper industry has increased the accumulation of oxalic acid and danger for precipitation of calcium oxalate encrusts, scaling. Analysis and control of oxalic acid in bleaching filtrates is therefore becoming increasingly important in the pulp and paper industry. Chromatographic methods, such as IC and HPLC, are generally more time-consuming but are valuable as standard methods for determination of oxalic acid. However, the instrumentation needed is expensive and stationary. In this study, an enzymatic method based on oxalate oxidase and peroxidase was developed to determine oxalic acid in authentic bleaching filtrates using a spectrophotometer. The results showed that bleaching filtrates contain some compounds interfering with the enzymatic method. Pretreatment of the samples with activated charcoal was a successful approach for decreasing problems with interference. By using dilution followed by charcoal treatment, the results obtained from five bleaching filtrates with the colorimetric method correlated very well with those obtained using IC. This study offers a selective, fast and mobile analysis method to determine oxalic acid in bleaching filtrates from the pulp and paper industry. The convenient enzyme-based method improves the possibilities for control of critical oxalic acid concentrations in closed-loop bleaching streams.