An FTIR method for the analysis of crude and heavy fuel oil asphaltenes to assist in oil fingerprinting

Brenden J. Riley, Chris Lennard, Stephen Fuller, Val Spikmans

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A proof-of-concept spectroscopic method for crude and heavy fuel oil asphaltenes was developed to complement existing methods for source determination of oil spills. Current methods rely on the analysis of the volatile fraction of oils by Gas Chromatography (GC), whilst the non-volatile fraction, including asphaltenes, is discarded. By discarding the non-volatile fraction, important oil fingerprinting information is potentially lost. Ten oil samples representing various geographical regions were used in this study. The asphaltene fraction was precipitated from the oils using excess n-pentane, and analysed by Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Based on visual interpretation of FTIR spectra along with peak height ratio comparisons, all ten oil samples could be differentiated from one another. Furthermore, ATR-FTIR was not able to differentiate a weathered crude oil sample from its source sample, demonstrating significant potential for the application of asphaltenes in oil fingerprinting.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)555-564
Number of pages10
JournalForensic Science International
Volume266
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2016. Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This paper is made available in Western Sydney University ResearchDirect in accordance with publisher policies.

Keywords

  • environmental forensics
  • oil spills

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