Analysis of Petroleum-Contaminated Water by GC/FID with Direct Aqueous Injection |
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| Authors: | Thomas L Potter |
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| Institution: | Dr. Thomas Potter is the director of the Mass Spectrometry Facility at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, a position he has held for the past 11 years. Prior to that he was a senior chemist at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. His research interests include development of rapid analytical methods for assessment of the fate, transport, and bioavailability of pesticides and petroleum products in soils. He is currently the chairman of the analysis and environmental fate technical advisory group of the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Criteria Working Group and lectures widely on the subject of environmental analysis of petroleum. (Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, (413) 545-3505, (413) 545-5910 fax, e-mail |
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| Abstract: | A direct aqueous injection capillary gas chromatography/flame ionization (GC/FID) procedure for the analysis of petroleum-contaminated water was developed and applied to seven water samples saturated with different petroleum products. Separation of C1 to C4 alcohols, C6 to C9 monoaromatics, MTBE, phenol, aniline, and other compounds, and the detection of BTEX compounds at concentrations at or below their maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) is reported. Among the test compounds analyzed, the only pair found to coelute were 1-butanol and benzene. A method for confirmation of alcohols and polar compounds in the presence of dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons was also evaluated. In this case, water samples were analyzed before and after purging. Polar compounds were found to be significant components of the water soluble fractions of commercial petroleum products. |
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