Blue copper digestion

Pelts and Belcher [46] have described a semi-automated method for the simultaneous determination of nitrogen and phosphorus in soil. Up to 40 samples are digested with sulphuric acid using a copper sulphate-sodium sulphate catalyst at 370°C for 2.25h in a thermostatically controlled block. Nitrogen is then determined in the 0.2-2.25% range as ammonia by automatic colorimetric analyses of the indophenol blue complex at 630nm. 

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