Task 2: Extraction and analysis of pollutant organics from contaminated solids using off-line Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) and on-line SFE-infrared spectroscopy. Semi-annual report, April 1, 1996--September 30, 1996

This activity will result in a commercialized version of a field-portable instrument for performing supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with on-line Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) detection. The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has developed an SFE field-portable method for quantitatively extracting organic pollutants (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs], polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], total petroleum hydrocarbons [TPHs]) from soils and sludges under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding. FT-IR is a detector that can yield quantitative and compound-class information for organic pollutants and is excellent for survey uses, since virtually all organic compound classes can be monitored. A laboratory prototype SFE-FT-IR instrument has been developed at the EERC and the University of North Dakota (UND) Department of Chemistry. The commercial instrument will be field-portable (requiring only generator electricity) and able to extract and measure organic pollutants from soils and sludges, identify the compound classes present, and provide quantitative or semiquantitative results at detection limits relevant to regulatory needs (e.g., parts per million). The SFE-FT-IR approach is particularly advantageous for very hazardous samples (e.g., determination of organics in solids contaminated with radioactive components), since SFE-FT-IR analysis generates no waste solvents. The instrument will also be configured to allow collection of {open_quotes}positive{close_quotes} extracts for analysis by other confirmatory (e.g., gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy [GC-MS]) methods