Discrimination methods for diesel origin by analyzing fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) composition in diesel-contaminated soil

Abstract

The biodiesel containing fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) are blended with refined diesel products. Here, we evaluate relative FAME composition ratio as a potential index to discriminate the pollution origin in diesel-contaminated soil. Artificially contaminated soil was prepared to mimic the release of petroleum products using four different refined diesels; in addition, the contaminated soil was put under natural weathering conditions. The variations in the relative FAME composition ratio was compared with those of the corresponding diesel origin using principal component analysis (PCA) for 60 days. All soil samples could be classified into four groups according to diesel origin using two principal components. The proposed method can be used to discriminate the specific diesel pollution origin in contaminated soils.

Investigation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Fingerprints of Water and Sediment Samples of the Nestos River Estuary in Northern Greece

“…In the heating oil (Figure 2b), the most abundant identified n-alkanes were C 17 and C 19 , while in the bunker oil (Figure 2c), the distribution was more bell-shaped with a prevalence of C 14 and C 16 . In the diesel fuel sample (Figure 2d), maxima were observed from nC 14 to nC 17, as well as peaks from fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) denoting the presence of biodiesel [45]. The refined petroleum products, such as heating oil, bunker oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, jet fuel, etc., may diverge in the carbon range, the hydrocarbon distribution pattern, and unresolved complex mixture (UCM) profile due to the various feedstocks of crude oil used in their production process [43].…”

“…In the heating oil (Figure 2b), the most abundant identified n-alkanes were C17 and C19, while in the bunker oil (Figure 2c), the distribution was more bell-shaped with a prevalence of C14 and C16. In the diesel fuel sample (Figure 2d), maxima were observed from nC14 to nC17, as well as peaks from fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) denoting the presence of biodiesel [45].…”