Diesel Range Organics Research Articles

Phytoremediation of No. 2 Fuel Oil-Contaminated Soil

Phytoremediation has been implemented at an industrial site in Wisconsin to promote in situ remediation of No. 2 fuel oil-contaminated soil. The goal of the project is to utilize microbial-enhancing processes within the rhizosphere of trees to stimulate biodegradation of diesel range organics (DROs) within four contaminated hot spots at the site. Between 40 and 90% reductions in the concentrations of the DROs were observed over the course of a 24-week bench-scale bioventing study performed in 1994. In addition to a reduction in the concentration of DROs, the chromatograms for those analyses exhibited a relative decrease in the proportion of the more water soluble and available shorter chained or lower molecular weight DROs compared to their higher molecular weight counterparts in the fuel. In addition to a decrease in concentration, this observed change in the pattern of the chromatograms over time is consistent with biodegradation of DROs. An agronomic assessment performed in 1995 indicated that conditions were favorable for tree growth. Phytoremediation was implemented as a low-cost in situ alternative for remediation of the site. Willow trees were planted in the four hot spots in May 1996 and trees have exhibited fair to excellent growth in the first season.

Determination of gasoline range, diesel range, and mineral oil range organics in soils and water by flame lonization gas chromatography

This article describes a method for the determination of gasoline range, diesel range, and mineral oil range organics in soils and water. It represents the culmination of a series of efforts to go beyond typical GRO and DRO methodology currently available in the literature to include a quantitative determination of mineral oil organics having a boiling range up to C44. It also is the result of an attempt to develop a cost‐effective method that enables the analyst to quantify three different types of hydrocarbon components in one GC run under conditions without a concentration step. Method performance is comparable to that of current protocols for GRO and DRO determinations and validated further by comparisons to certified standards and in‐house standards. Accuracy as percentage recovery for GRO in water is 82 to 84 and 91 to 92% for soils. Accuracy as percentage recovery for MRO in water is 84 to 102 and 75 to 80% for soils. Accuracy as percentage recovery for DRO in water is 78 to 100 and 71 to 90% for s...

Determination of Diesel Fuel and Motor Oil in Water and Wastes by a Modified Diesel-Range Organics Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Method

Abstract The American Petroleum Institute method for determination of diesel-range total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) by gas-liquid chromatography with flame ionization detection was modified to allow simultaneous determination of motor oil. Motor oil elutes as a broad hump of unresolved alkanes and can be distinguished readily from diesel fuel and other fuel oils by its profile. The boiling point ranges for No. 2 diesel fuel and motor oil are C10– C21 and C21–C38, respectively, and these ranges define TPHs in diesel fuel (TPH-D) and motor oil (TPH- M). By this convention, less than 6% of No. 2 diesel is characterized as TPH-M, and less than 9% of motor oil is quantitated as TPH-D. Inlet discrimination was observed when motor oil was injected with a splitless injector. Accurate motor oil quantitation with splitless sample introduction requires calibration with the product or triacontane, which has a similar response factor. Detector response to motor oil (and other petroleum products) and a homologous series of n-alkanes was nearly constant when on-column injection was used. Instrument detection limit for motor oil was about 0.5 μg (split- less injection, total area under the curve), and the widest linear range (up to 100 μg) was obtained by subtracting the solvent chromatogram. Procedures for isolation of motor oil from oil-in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil (W/0) emulsions are described. Method detection limits for diesel fuel and motor oil in purified water were 0.041 and 1.5 mg/L, respectively.

Analysis of volatile organics by supercritical fluid extraction coupled to gas chromatography: II. Quantitation of petroleum hydrocarbons from environmental sample

A coupled supercritical fluid extraction-gas chromatography (SFE-GC) method has been developed for the quantitative extraction and analysis of gasoline and diesel range organics from real world environmental samples. Petroleum-contaminated samples containing gasoline- to diesel- and motor oil-range hydrocarbons (total hydrocarbon content typically ranging from 2 to 26 mg g ) could be quantitatively extracted by a 15-min SFE-GC extraction using 400 atm (1 atm = 101 325 Pa), 60°C CO 2. The SFE-GC hydrocarbon recoveries from real-world samples were comparable to those obtained by sonicating the samples in methylene chloride for 14 h, except for the gasoline recovery which was higher by SFE-GC analysis due to the more efficient collection of the more volatile analytes. Reproducibilities for replicate SFE-GC extractions and analyses were typically <5% (R.S.D.) for the quantitation of both individual organics and total hydrocarbon content. Gasoline- to diesel-range organics (as volatile as n-pentane) could be quantitatively retained during the SFE step of the SFE-GC analysis using a thick-film (30 m × 0.32 mm I.D., 5 μm film thickness) DB-1 column operated at a cryogenic trapping temperature of −25°C. Using split SFE-GC operated at a high split ratio (100:1) relatively large 1-g sample sizes could be extracted, and by using a drying agent (molecular sieve 3A) very wet (25%, w w , water) samples could be analyzed without extracted water freezing and plugging in the GC column during the SFE step.