Mass spectral characterization of petroleum dyes, tracers, and additives

Petroleum dyes, additives, and tracers are important for identifying gasolines in spill and contamination problems. High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) was used for the characterization of 21 commercial petroleum dyes. Many contained common chromophores, typically azo or anthraquinone groups, and often differed only in their degree of alkyl substitution. Few dyes were pure and typically contained several chromogens with homologous series of substituents. A separation method was developed to concentrate the polar fractions containing the additives. Subsequent characterization of the polar fraction by GC/MS showed distinct differences between different gasolines. Various colorless tracers were evaluated in terms of detectability, soil adsorption, and cost. Many tracers exhibited soil adsorption and interferences which limited their detectability. Alcohols in the C8-C10 range were found to be the most suitable tracers with GC/MS detection limits of 1 ppm. 22 references, 4 figures, 3 tables.