CHROMATOGRAPHIC-SEPARATION OF TARBORNE PA H IN A SOIL

At coal gas production sites soils are frequently infiltrated by fluid coal tar. From tar-filled pores a further diffusive and/or convective dispersion of PAH into the soil matrix occurs. Results from a contami nated site indicate, that the systematic change of the PAH congener pa ttern along the transport vector is due to differences in solubility a nd adsorption. This leads to a chromatographic fractionation of the in itial PAH mixture with the least adsorbed congeneres forming the front of PAH translocation and the strongest adsorbed congeneres moving cle arly slower.