DETERMINATION OF 2-FURALDEHYDE IN TRANSFORMER OIL USING FLOW-INJECTION WITH PULSED AMPEROMETRIC DETECTION

An on-line flow injection (FI) system suitable for the on-site determi nation of 2-furaldehyde in transformer oil has been developed, This pa per examines the feasibility of combining FI with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD) to produce a method for the rapid on-line analysis of 2-furaldehyde. The determination of 2-furaldehyde by FI with PAD is di rect and simple, PAD was applied to the determination of 2-furaldehyde at a platinum electrode in alkaline media, Plots of peak height versu s concentration gave linear regions for concentrations in the range 5- 40 ppm at a pump rate of 0.4 mi min(-1) and detection potential (E(1)) of -750 mV (versus SCE), and in the range 1-8 ppm at a pump rate of 0 .8 ml min(-1) and E(1) of -800 mV, Detection limits of 1 ppm (S/N = 3) were found for E(1) = -750 mV (pump rate = 0.4 mi min(-1); injection volume = 67 mu l) and 0.5 ppm for E(1) = -800 mV (pump rate = 0.8 ml m in(-1); injection volume = 100 mu l), respectively, 2-Furaldehyde was extracted from transformer oil through a partitioning membrane in a fl ow through macrodialyser cell, Under optimized conditions the extracti on efficiency for 2-furaldehyde from transformer oil, using differenti al pulse polarography experiments, was found to be 15% at oil/reagent flow rates of 0.3 ml min(-1).