Can GC-MS generally be used to differentiate between types of petroleum based fuel products?
A. In most environmental applications, gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC/FID) is used to evaluate fuel concentrations and comparison with standards (diesel, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, motor oil) is used to qualitatively identify the type of petroleum hydrocarbon. Fuel patterns from the sample are visually matched to standards and can be used to identify fuel types in the sample. GC/MS although a more costly method can also be used to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate different fuel products see http://www.dpra.com/index.cfm/m/147. Although this technique is not as commonly used. GC/MS analysis will allow the user to identify different hydrocarbons in a complex fuel mixture. One suggestion for the use of GC/MS to identify different petroleum based fuel products is to evaluate concentrations of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the sample. Most fuel types contain varying concentrations and types of PAHs (naphthalene, benzo (a) pyrene, chrysene e
… compounds that form the mixture. Some of these compounds are soluble while others are not. Although the main components of creosote are naphthalene and its alkyl derivatives, phenanthrene, fluorene, acenaphthene, alkylphenols, and dibenzofuran, the more soluble components (benzene, toluene … detected in creosote range from 12,700 Pa for benzene to 2.0 10?10 Pa for dibenzo[a,h]anthracene. Generally, low-molecular-weight PAHs (e.g., naphthalene, anthracene, and phenanthrene) are mainly in the gas phase, and high-molecular-weight PAHs are mainly bound to particles. Phenolic compounds … http://www.clu-in.org/contaminantfocus/default.
