Identification of recalcitrant hydrocarbons present in a drilling waste-polluted soil

J. M. Arce-Ortega, N. G. Rojas-Avelizapa, R. Rodríguez-Vázquez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

During spills of hydrocarbons in soil, it has been observed that aliphatic and the slightly aromatic hydrocarbons are first to be removed, however, branched aliphatic and aromatic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their similar heteroatoms with sulfur (PAS) remain strongly absorbed to soil particles. It is important to point out that studies of biodegradation of alkyl-substituted PAHs and PAS are scarce and most of them have been carried out using only available standard compounds. The aim of this investigation was to identify and to quantify the aliphatic, alkyl polycyclic aromatic, and sulfured recalcitrant fractions present in a contaminated soil with drilling wastes. A modified method of shaking-centrifugation extraction was implemented for the extraction of compounds from contaminated soil. The organic extract obtained was purified and fractionated using aluminum oxide. Gas Chromatograph with flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and Gas Chromatograph with mass spectrometer detector (GC-MS) identified the aliphatic, PAHs and PAS fractions. Hydrocarbon composition in the soil contaminated with 140,000mg TPHs/Kg soil, consisted in 80% of branched aliphatic compounds of C10 to C22, 15% of alkyl PAHs, and 5% of PAS compounds. Lineal, lineal branched, and cyclic branched aliphatic hydrocarbons, as well as their alkyl naphthalene, anthracene and phenantrene, methyldibenzothiophene, dimethyldibenzothiophene, and dimethylnaphto[2,3-b]thiophene compounds were identified by CG-MS. The identification of compounds in soil P31, allowed us to speculate on the origin of the contamination and the natural attenuation that had occurred at this site.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1535-1545
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Environmental Science and Health - Part A Toxic/Hazardous Substances and Environmental Engineering
Volume39
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Fractionation hydrocarbons
  • HTPs-Hydrocarbons total petroleum
  • Hydrocarbon extraction
  • PAHs-Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
  • PANs-Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heteroatoms with nitrogen
  • PAS-Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heteroatoms with sulfur

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