Chromatographic Fingerprinting Analysis of Crude Oils and Petroleum Products

• Published in: Handbook of Oil Spill Science and Technology p. 2
• Main Authors: Yang, Chun, Wang, Zhendi, Hollebone, Bruce P, Brown, Carl E, Yang, Zeyu, Landriault, Mike
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, NJ John Wiley & Sons 2015; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Bicyclic sesquiterpanes; Biomarker; Diagnostic ratios; Diamondoids; Environment & Environmental Engineering; Forensic; GC–MS; Oil & Gas Engineering; Oil fingerprinting; Oil spill; Petroleum; Pollution Control & Prevention; Safety & Maintenance
• ISBN: 0470455519; 9780470455517
• DOI: 10.1002/9781118989982.ch5

This chapter overviews and discusses oil chemistry, analytical methodologies for separation and analysis of selected petroleum hydrocarbons in crude oils and various refined petroleum products, and identification and correlation of spilled oil to its source. The characterization, identification, and correlation are comprehensive and challenging tasks due to the wide variability in petroleum products. Forensic oil fingerprinting analysis becomes even more complicated once oil is released into the environment and subject to various weathering processes. It is extremely important to collect and sieve reliable evidence for each specific case. The most important criteria from quantitative chromatographic analysis are the concentrations, distribution profiles, and diagnostic ratios of source‐specific petroleum compounds. The selection of diagnostic ratios should be based upon a particular spill case including the oil type, weathering condition, and the abundance and distribution of target compounds. Oil fingerprinting analysis has being advanced greatly in recent decades, thanks to the rapid development of analytical and statistical techniques. Although automatic analysis using computerized techniques and oil database could be a trend in the future, successful and defensible source identification still heavily relies on systematic analysis, meticulous examination, and scientific interpretation of all available information by experienced environmental forensic scientists.