Abstract
In this study, static and dynamic solvent extractions are compared for more efficient extraction of polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) from fly ash. Static solvent extraction rather than dynamic extraction showed a higher recovery of PCDFs, which was adsorbed strongly with fly ash. The effects of parameters, such as temperature, toluene-isopropyl alcohol mixture, static and dynamic time flow rate, and solvent volume on the extraction were investigated and the variations in average recoveries of PCDFs were explained. In both extractions, temperature was an effective parameter because the higher temperature gave the higher recoveries. In dynamic solvent extraction, dynamic time was more effective than flow rate and solvent volume for the extraction of PCDFs from fly ash. Multi-layer column chromatography on neutral and acidic silica gel with n-hexane was used for cleaning up the extracts. The quantification of the PCDFs extracted was performed using HPLC-UV.