Protocols for the analysis of transformer oil and its degradation in soil by hydrogen peroxide

Conventional gas chromatography (GC) analysis of hydrocarbons displaying one broad peak provides limited information. Two GC analytical protocols using two-peak and three-peak approaches were developed to investigate transformer oil components and their degradation in soil by hydrogen peroxide. The two-peak method revealed transformer oil to be composed of 27 wt.% F2 fraction and 73 wt.% F3 fraction hydrocarbons. The three-peak method segregated the transformer oil into 40 wt.% light, 40 wt.% medium, and 20 wt.% heavy hydrocarbon fractions. In contrast to reports of success with several classes of lighter hydrocarbons, only limited degradations of transformer oil in soils by 15% and 30% hydrogen peroxide treatment was indicated by conventional one-peak analysis; two-peak analysis showed varying F2 and F3 fraction degradations with F2 fraction degradation being higher; three-peak analysis offered a richer understanding of the relative degradations of light, medium, and heavy fractions. The effect of a low pH environment on the degradation of transformer oil by hydrogen peroxide was evaluated using the three-peak method. It emerged that the degradation of the medium and heavier fractions of transformer oil was higher at pH 2·0.