Study of the Regeneration Cleaning of Used Mineral Oils – Ecotoxicological Properties and Biodegradation

Abstract

The aim of the study was to establish and compare the model of the biodegradability and ecotoxicological properties of oil samples in aqueous environment.The unused new mineral oil Turbinol and used (after 1 year of usage) recovered oil Turbinol purified by the electrostatical method were the tested samples. For the determination of the ecotoxicological properties, the test organisms used were seeds of Sinapis alba L. and the small aquatic crustaceans Daphnia magna. Preliminary tests were positive and determined the acute toxicity with the values of IC50 and EC50. Biodegradability was determined by the manometric method, in tests which lasted 28 days. Tests of toxicity were positive, and the samples were found to be hard to biodegrade. Determination of the oil composition by gas chromatography with mass detection (GC – MS); found that the composition of the electrostatically cleaned oil is comparable to the new oil, which is confirmed by the results obtained with the response inhibition in selected tests. Regeneration extends the oil life, reducing the cost of disposal of waste oils, saving fossil raw materials, thus belonging to the environmentally friendly techniques.

Keywords

• mineral oil
• electrostatical method
• biodegradation
• ecotoxicity
• gas chromatography