Analytical aspects of the remediation of soil by wet oxidation - Characterisation of tar contaminants and their degradation products

Wet oxidation of tar compounds gives rise to a wide range of products. Due to the incorporation of oxygen, these products become increasingly more water soluble and the analytical strategy has to take into account the different physical/chemicalproperties of the compounds. An interplay between gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ion chromatography (IC) has been applied to meet these requirements.