HYDROCARBON WASTES AT PETROLEUM-CONTAMINATED AND CREOSOTE-CONTAMINATED SITES - RAPID CHARACTERIZATION OF COMPONENT CLASSES BY THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH FLAME IONIZATION DETECTION

Adaptation of thin-layer chromatography with flame ionization detection for the semiquantitative characterization of residual hydrocarbon contamination at petroleum and wood-preserving hazardous waste sites is described. Soils collected from an abandoned oilfield battery site and a former creosote wood treatment facility in Alberta were solvent extracted and the residues characterized using two mobile-phase systems, one capable of separating polar waste components and the other of separating constituent aromatics according to ring number. The method provides a rapid component class fingerprint of the saturate, aromatic, and polar components of heavy hydrocarbon wastes, is analogous to column chromatography, and is useful for estimating the extent of weathering experienced by aged hydrocarbon wastes in the soil environment. As such, it can be useful for preliminary screening of the potential biotreatability or inherent recalcitrance of hydrocarbon waste mixtures.