GC/MS analysis of waste oils and their characterization

Waste oils are dangerous waste, because they can contain high concentrations of metals, hydrocarbons, PAHs, chlorinated compounds, phenols and other substances that come from additives and are created as a result of the operation of different types of engines. This type of waste can cause major problems and contamination of the environment, both soil and water, if they are not treated in the right way and they are wasted. Their identification and further characterization as hazardous waste according to the waste regulations of the Republic of Serbia - Rulebook on categories, testing and classification of waste ("Official Gazette of the RS" no. 56/2010, 93/2019, 39/2021) and Rulebook on the conditions, method and procedure of waste oil management ("Official Gazette of the RS", no. 71/2010). In this paper, GC/MS analysis of different types of waste oils (engine, hydraulic, machine, mineral non-chlorinated oil, synthetic oil) was performed. The obtained chromatograms were compared with the chromatogram of the standard (Dr. Ehrenstorfer) which contains the same ratio of diesel oil and mineral oil without additives. In this way, the analysis of the so-called "fingerprint" and characterization for different types of waste oils was performed, which is very important for comparison with analysis of oil in natural samples (water, soil) in order to determine the original source of pollution.