Development of a gas chromatographic-ultraviolet absorption spectrometric method for monitoring petroleum pitch volatiles in the environment

Abstract

A procedure employing the techniques of gas chromatography (GC) and ultraviolet absorptlon spectroscopy (UV) has been developed for the specific analysis of volatiles from petroleum pitch. These techniques have been used In conjunction with mass spectrometry to ldentlfy nine of the major volatile compounds in petroleum pitch. In contrast to the major compounds present in coal tar pitch volatiles, many of the identified compounds In petroleum pitch volatiles were methyl substituted aromatlcs, and Included: methylchrysene, dlmethylchrysene, methylphenanthrene and methylpyrene. These compounds together with five other identified aromatic hydrocarbons were used in a combined GC-UV method for monitoring petroleum pitch volatiles. This analytical method, which showed a detectlon limit of approximately 0.5 pg per compound, was tested by analysis of commercial petroleum pitches.

Class separation of aromatic compounds in rock extracts and fossil fuels by liquid chromatography

“…However, o-terphenyl and 1phenylnaphthalene will be eluted in this subfraction although each of these compounds contains three aromatic rings. The o-terphenyl has been used as an internal standard by others (37). When added prior to the HPLC procedure o-terphenyl will be applicable as an internal standard only to AF1.…”

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils of a mountain valley: correlation with highway traffic and cancer incidence

“…At high temperatures, such as in the coking of coal, only the unsubstituted hydrocarbons are formed or survive, while at lower temperatures, for instance during petroleum formation, highly alkylated products predominate. These compositional fea- tures survive the processing to road asphalt and pitch (7). The mass spectra of the soil hydrocarbons demonstrate an alkylation pattern different from those of coal tar or petroleum (4,5).…”

“…The usual procedures for the determination of elemental sulfur are reduction to the sulfide or oxidation to the sulfate. These techniques generally lack the selectivity and sensitivity of reported gas-liquid (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7), thin-layer (8), and liquid chromatographic (9) procedures. These are apparently useful for sulfur determinations, but none has been applied to the quantitation of elemental sulfur in environmental samples.…”

Monitoring of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in water. II. Extraction and recovery of six representative compounds with polyurethane foams

“…Although there is no epidemiological evidence to prove that PAH in drinking water are related to the incidence of cancer, the investigation of Poel (4) indicates that the potential danger of continuous exposure to carcinogenic PAH through drinking water should not be overlooked, even at low concentration. Borneff (5) recommends that raw waters containing 0.1-1.0 Mg/L of PAH should be adequately treated to reduce their levels to the lowest possible concentration and that raw waters containing over 1.0 Mg/L PAH are unsafe for drinking purposes even after treatment.…”

“…The choice of procedure for the separation of PAH from the interfering classes of compounds depends largely on the type of sample to be analyzed. No satisfactory method exists for the analysis of PAH in drinking waters and their respective raw waters, although abundant references are available for their analysis in other types of samples (2)(3)(4)(5)(6).…”