EN 15936:2022

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-julij-2022
Nadomešča:
SIST EN 15936:2012
Tla, odpadki, obdelani biološki odpadki in blato - Določevanje celotnega
organskega ogljika (TOC) s suhim sežigom
Soil, waste, treated biowaste and sludge - Determination of total organic carbon (TOC)
by dry combustion
Boden, Abfall, behandelter Bioabfall und Schlamm - Bestimmung des gesamten
organischen Kohlenstoffs (TOC) mittels trockener Verbrennung
Sols, déchets, biodéchets traités et boues - Dosage du carbone organique total (COT)
par combustion sèche
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 15936:2022
ICS:
13.030.20 Tekoči odpadki. Blato Liquid wastes. Sludge
13.080.10 Kemijske značilnosti tal Chemical characteristics of
soils
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN 15936
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
February 2022
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 13.030.01; 13.080.10 Supersedes EN 15936:2012
English Version
Soil, waste, treated biowaste and sludge - Determination of
total organic carbon (TOC) by dry combustion
Sols, déchets, biodéchets traités et boues - Dosage du Boden, Abfall, behandelter Bioabfall und Schlamm -
carbone organique total (COT) par combustion sèche Bestimmung des gesamten organischen Kohlenstoffs
(TOC) mittels trockener Verbrennung
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 19 December 2021.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2022 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 15936:2022 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 4
Introduction . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Principle . 6
4.1 Method A (indirect procedure) . 6
4.2 Method B (direct procedure) . 7
5 Interferences . 7
6 Reagents . 7
7 Apparatus . 8
8 Sample pre-treatment . 8
9 Procedure – Method A (indirect method) . 9
9.1 Determination . 9
9.1.1 General . 9
9.1.2 Determination of the TC . 9
9.1.3 Determination of the TIC . 9
9.2 Calibration . 10
9.3 Control measurements . 10
9.4 Calculation and expression of results . 11
10 Procedure Method B (direct method) . 12
10.1 Determination . 12
10.1.1 General . 12
10.1.2 Removal of the inorganic carbon and determination of the TOC . 12
10.2 Calibration . 12
10.3 Control measurements . 13
10.4 Calculation and expression of results . 13
11 Performance data . 14
12 Expression of results . 14
13 Test report . 14
Annex A (informative) Repeatability and reproducibility data . 15
A.1 Materials used in the interlaboratory comparison study . 15
A.2 Interlaboratory results . 16
Annex B (informative) Factors influencing dry combustion methods . 19
B.1 Influence of temperature and modifiers on the decomposition of barium carbonate
as an example for a refractory compound . 19
B.2 Recovery of the control mixture A . 19
B.3 Influence of aluminium oxide or sodium sulfate used for sample preparation for the
recovery of TOC . 20
B.4 Influence of TIC:TOC ratio on the recovery and the coefficient of variation . 21
B.5 Method B: Influence of the temperature during the removal of inorganic carbon on
the recovery of TOC . 22
Bibliography . 23

European foreword
This document (EN 15936:2022) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 444
“Environmental characterization of solid matrices”, the secretariat of which is held by NEN.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by August 2022, and conflicting national standards shall be
withdrawn at the latest by month August 2022.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document supersedes EN 15936:2012.
This document combines methods from EN 15936:2012 and EN 13137:2001.
The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:
— New composition of the substances in control mixture A (6.10) was defined and the recovery
requirement (9.3) was adapted to the results of a lab trial;
— Annex C – “Determination of total organic carbon (TOC) in solid samples using the suspension
method” was skipped;
— The text was editorially revised.
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body.
A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North
Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United
Kingdom.
Introduction
This document is applicable and validated for several types of matrices as indicated in Table 1 (see also
Annex A for the results of the validation). The results in this document are expressed in % C in relation
to the dry mass (dm).
Table 1 — Matrices for which this document is applicable and validated
Matrix Materials used for validation
Sludge Municipal sludge
Biowaste Compost,
Fresh Compost
Soil Sludge amended soil,
Agricultural soil
Waste Filter cake,
Bottom ash,
Electro-plating sludge,
Dredged sludge,
Rubble
WARNING — Persons using this document should be familiar with usual laboratory practice. This
document does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the
responsibility of the user to establish appropriate safety and health practices.
IMPORTANT — It is absolutely essential that tests conducted according to this document be carried out
by suitably trained staff.
1 Scope
This document specifies two methods for the determination of total organic carbon (TOC) in sludge,
treated biowaste, soil and waste samples containing more than 0,1 % carbon in relation to the dry mass
(dm).
NOTE This method can also be applied to other environmental solid matrices, provided the user has verified
the applicability.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp/
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
total carbon
TC
quantity of carbon present in the sample in the form of organic, inorganic and elemental carbon
3.2
total inorganic carbon
TIC
quantity of carbon that is liberated as carbon dioxide by acid treatment
Note 1 to entry: Typically, the TIC represents the carbonates present in a sample.
3.3
total organic carbon
TOC
quantity of carbon that is converted into carbon dioxide by combustion and which is not liberated as
carbon dioxide by acid treatment
4 Principle
4.1 Method A (indirect procedure)
In this procedure, the TOC is obtained by the difference between the results of the measurements of TC
and TIC.
The total carbon (TC) present in the sample is converted into carbon dioxide by combustion in an oxygen-
containing gas flow free of carbon dioxide. To ensure complete combustion, catalysts and/or modifiers
can be used. The released amount of carbon dioxide is measured e.g. by infrared spectrometry, thermal
conductivity detection, or other suitable techniques.
The TIC is determined separately from another sub-sample by means of acidification and purging of the
released carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide shall be measured by one of the techniques mentioned
above.
4.2 Method B (direct procedure)
In this procedure, the TIC
...