Separation and characterization of petroleum hydrocarbons and surfactant in Orimulsion dispersion samples

Journal Article · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1996 · Environmental Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/es960248h· OSTI ID:420686

Wang, Z; Fingas, M ^[1]

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1. Environment Canada, Ottawa (Canada)

In view of the increasing importance of Orimulsion as an alternative fuel, it becomes necessary to have a better understanding of its physical properties, chemical composition, and toxicity to aquatic organisms. This paper reports detailed separation and characterization results of petroleum hydrocarbons and surfactant in Orimulsion dispersions. A reliable and effective combined method of using membrane filtration, capillary GC, and HPCL techniques has been developed and applied for separation, characterization, and quantitations of petroleum hydrocarbons and nonionic surfactant in complicated oil-in-water dispersion samples used for fish toxicity tests. The GC analysis results demonstrate that (1) the saturates in Orimulsion are dominantly composed of FC-unresolvable aliphatic hydrocarbons; (2) Orimulsion does not contain BTEX (the collective name of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and the xylene isomers) and lighter alkylbenzenes, and concentrations of alkylated PAHs are low relative to most crudes; (3) the concentrations of biomarker compounds are significantly higher than most oils. Identification of the surfactant in Orimulsion was achieved by (1) narrowing the searching range based on theoretical considerations and analysis and (2) comparing the chromatographic profiles, oligomer distribution patterns, and retention times of oligomer peaks with the known surfactants. 23 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 420686
• Journal Information: Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 30; ISSN 0013-936X; ISSN ESTHAG
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

40 CHEMISTRY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABUNDANCE
AROMATICS
DISPERSIONS
EMULSIONS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
HYDROCARBONS
LIQUID COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY
PHENOLS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SURFACTANTS
SYNTHETIC FUELS