Title: Analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls treatment present in transformers oils

Authors: Kelly Dumorné; Margie Zorrilla Velazco; Petra Velazco Pedroso

Addresses: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Sciences, Universidad de la Frontera, Temuco, Chile ' Study Center of Applied Chemistry, Central University 'Marta Abreu' of Las Villas, Road to Camajuani Km 5 ½, CP 54830, Villa Clara, Cuba ' Study Center of Applied Chemistry, Central University 'Marta Abreu' of Las Villas, Road to Camajuani Km 5 ½, CP 54830, Villa Clara, Cuba

Abstract: In this research, we demonstrated the effectiveness of potassium polyethylene plycolate method (KPEG) in the removal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from transformer oil. A commercially available transformer oil composed of a mixture of PCBs (Aroclor 1254) was treated by polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400), with potassium hydroxide (KOH). The relative efficiency of the different treatments was assessed in terms of the destruction and removal efficiency (DRE, %) by means of gas chromatography at different reaction times. Our results revealed that the DRE average, with a value of 95.0%, was obtained under the experimental conditions: mol ratio KOH/PEG = 2:1 and KPEG/oil = 30:1 for 3 h 30 min of reaction at 90°C. Additionally, the influence of time demonstrated effect on the dechlorination of PCBs.

Keywords: polychlorinated biphenyls; PCBs; KPEG method; chemical dechlorination process; transformer oil; gas chromatography.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2017.086422

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2017 Vol.20 No.1/2, pp.10 - 21

Accepted: 10 Mar 2017
Published online: 10 Sep 2017 *

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