Excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy and parallel factor analysis for micro-content petroleum pollutant

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Identifying micro-content oil pollutants in water is challenging.
• Conventional methods struggle with complex mixtures of petroleum products.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for identifying and quantifying individual oil pollutants in composite samples.
• To utilize fluorescence spectroscopy and advanced data analysis for environmental monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Fluorescence excitation emission matrix spectra (EEMs) were measured for individual oil components (gasoline, diesel, kerosene) and CCL4 solvent.
• EEMs of composite oil samples in CCL4 were acquired.
• Parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis was applied to decompose the EEMs of composite samples.

Main Results:

• PARAFAC analysis successfully deconvoluted the superimposed EEMs of composite oil samples.
• The concentration ratios of individual oil components within mixtures were accurately extracted.
• The method demonstrated effectiveness in identifying and quantifying main micro-content petroleum pollutants.

Conclusions:

• EEMs combined with PARAFAC analysis provide a robust solution for identifying and quantifying micro-content petroleum pollutants in composite samples.
• This approach overcomes limitations of traditional chemical separation and simple fluorescence analysis.
• The developed technique offers a powerful tool for environmental analysis of oil pollution.