Investigation of Extraction and Collection of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Aqueous Solutions at Different Temperatures

A device to extract and collect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) released from aqueous solutions at different temperatures (13, 50, 80 and 95 degrees C) was constructed. Acenaphthylene (Acy), fluorene (Flu), phenanthrene (Phe), pyrene (Pyr) and benzo(k)fluoranthene B(k)F were used in this study. The PAHs were dragged off from the samples at sub-boiling temperatures by a heated argon flow. The released PAHs were collected in solid adsorbents and acetonitrile cold traps, as well. HPLC-UV was used to quantify the mixtures of PAHs released from the aqueous solutions. Among the investigated PAHs, only the heaviest B(k)F was not extracted at all. The extraction yields were calculated for each temperature of the argon flow, namely: at 95 degrees C, Acy 67.19%, Flu 44.54%, Phe 43.97% and Pyr 36.50%; at 80 degrees C, Acy 62.08%, Flu 49.53%, Phe 31.53% and Pyr 15.72%; at 50 degrees C, Acy 47.07%, Flu 28.89%, Phe 14.75% and Pyr 0.00%; and at 13 degrees C, Acy 11.80%, Flu 6.80%, Phe 0.00% and Pyr 0.00%.