Abstract
ABSTRACT
Problems associated with the remediation of polychlorinated biphenyls-contaminated used mineral oils can be minimized by processing of the contaminated oil using molecular distillation in a short-path evaporator with wiped film. One distillation fraction yielded from molecular evaporator represents polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) concentrate, with the remaining distillation fractions and residue showing PCBs contents far below allowable values, thus rendering them suitable for use for energy purposes or for regeneration. As a rule, the concentrate fraction makes up between 15 and 25% of the initial volume, and depends on PCB type, the mineral oil, as well as on the contamination intensity. Optimum parameters of the large-scale evaporator operation can be determined based on the results of fractionation on a small laboratory molecular evaporator.
Key words:
PCB-contaminated used mineral oils; molecular distillation; short-path evaporator
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