Separation and Characterization of Polycyclic Hydrocarbons from Georgian Petroleum

Abstract

A novel method of isolation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from three Georgian petroleum fields has been developed. PAHs are classified as carcinogenic compounds and monitored worldwide in a wide range of environments including drinking water, waste water, furnace emissions, soil, hazardous waste extracts and in air over major cities. Our method is a combination of photo-chemical condensation of petroleum PAHs via reaction with maleic anhydride, followed by photodecomposition of resulting photo-adducts. Extraction with gas-liquid chromatography constitutes a final step for isolating narrow fractions of phenanthrene, naphthalene and benzene. Gas-liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, chromato-mass spectrometry and spectrofluorimetry were used to analyze individual compounds. Our method of isolation of PAHs can be successfully used for crude petroleum, petroleum fractions and for petroleum-derived materials - in spite of differences in their compositions.