Distinguishing Crude Oils from Heavy Fuel Oils by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Fingerprints

A novel method for distinguishing heavy fuel oils from crude oils is proposed in this study. This method comprises gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) of the diagnostic ratios of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The method was applied to 15 heavy fuel oils (B1 to B15) and 32 crude oils (C1 to C32) for distinction. Oil samples were collected from Turkmenistan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Morocco, Algeria, Sultan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, and Mauritania. The discriminative power of PCA was enhanced through the selection of typical PAH diagnostic ratios, which could be used to distinguish petrogenic from pyrogenic PAHs. The two principal components (PC1 and PC2) account for over 75% of the variance. The method was confirmed to be highly efficient for distinguishing heavy fuel oils from crude oils, with a rapid and objective procedure under comprehensive considerations.