Oil Spill Science and Technology, 2nd Edition

4.2. Fingerprinting Analysis of Petroleum Compounds

The technologies of oil analysis have continually progressed due to advanced and automated instrumental techniques in recent decades. This chapter does not intend to provide an exhaustive list of analytical methods rather it discusses the well-established chromatographic methods. The methods most commonly identify the major hydrocarbon components using gas chromatography (GC) and other techniques [9–16]. Many oil analytical methods are similar with subtle differences between the actual experimental procedures, while some methods differ considerably. Thus the composition of an oil determined by different laboratories is anticipated to vary. The determination of both concentrations and relative ...