GRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC CONTAMINATION IN RAILWAY BALLAST

Railway ballast provides both the foundation and drainage for railway track. It can become heavily contaminated with diesel fuel due to leakage and spillage. Typical analytical methods for soils may not be applicable to the assessment of ballast. The efficiency of different commonly available solvents as ballast extractants was investigated. Ethyl acetate performed best, yielding 3870, 6065 and 8990 mg/kg more extractable contaminants than dichloromethane, hexane and methanol, respectively. Mechanical shaking and sonication were compared for different sample weight: solvent volume ratios and extraction times. Using ethyl acetate, efficient practical assessment of contaminated ballast is achieved using a ratio of at least 100 ml of solvent to 120 g of ballast. For the covering abstract see ITRD E123713.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0947644458
• Corporate Authors:

  ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

  46 CLUNY GARDENS
  EDINBURGH,   United Kingdom  EH10 6BN
• Authors:
  • ANDERSON, P
  • CUNNINGHAM, C J
  • BARRY, D A
• Publication Date: 2001

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 6 p.
• Serial:
  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE RAILWAY ENGINEERING 2001, HELD LONDON, UK, 30 APRIL - 1 MAY 2001 - CDROM
  • Publisher: ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Ballast (Railroads); Cleaning; Conferences; Fuels; Methodology; Pollution
• Uncontrolled Terms: Ballast
• ITRD Terms: 3849: Cleaning; 4559: Coarse aggregate; 8525: Conference; 3850: Fuel; 9102: Method; 2453: Pollution
• Subject Areas: Energy; Environment; Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00985502
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 0-947644-45-8
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Feb 4 2005 12:00AM