TheFormula_Volume_17_Iissue_1_web

Quadrupole Mass Spectrometers equipped with CTC GCPal
autosampler. Manitoba Hydro tests about 5,000 oil samples per
year; this preparaCon technique and use of these analyCcal
instruments provides the required capacity for one Lab
Technician to test nearly all our oil samples for PCBs.
for the scrap steel; when scrapped as PCB-containing,
Manitoba Hydro pays a premium to ship and decontaminate
the unit before it can be scrapped. Since experimentally
confirming that many scrapped transformers currently
reported as PCB-containing are actually PCB-free, according to
Environment Canada RM/31 PCB by homologue test method,
Manitoba Hydro will see significant savings on scrapping
equipment once the method change is implemented.
The new Manitoba Hydro Chemical Lab Services PCB by
homologue test method is now accredited to the ISO 17025
standard. TesCng of all Manitoba Hydro’s PCB samples by the
new method will begin January 2018.
Manitoba Hydro’s Chemical Lab Services is comprised of a team
of 18 Chemists/Specialists, Lab Technicians and administraCve
staff who analyze water, air, bulk building materials, lubricaCng
oil, insulaCng oil, and soil for a wide variety of parameters. In
addiCon, Chemical Lab Services also provides environmental
sampling and industrial hygiene project support and chemical
consulCng services to Manitoba Hydro.
The PCB decontaminaCon process uses metallic sodium,
ethylene glycol and heat to strip chlorine atoms from the
biphenyl molecule. In 2015, Chemical Lab Services studied the
effect of the current calibraCon model and experimentally
confirmed that the Aroclor calibraCon method can generates a
very highly biased result for processed oil samples. The
decontaminated oil is further processed so that the PCB
concentraCon in the oil is less than 2 ppm auer which the oil is
deemed PCB-free and placed back in service. Since Manitoba
Hydro has decontaminated well over 30 million litres of oil in
the last 30 years, accurate quanCtaCon of PCBs is necessary.
By; Mark Dalmaijer, Technical Supervisor – Manitoba Hydro
Chemical Lab Services.
Transformers eventually reach their end of life and are
scrapped. When scrapped as PCB-free, Manitoba Hydro is paid
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