FT-IR spectroscopy and chemometrics as a useful approach for determining chemical-physical properties of gasoline, by minimizing analytical times and sample handling.
Since recently Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy is being used in the petrol industry for determining important chemical-physical properties of gasoline. This technique enables to achieve results similar to those obtainable with standard methods at shorter times, lower costs and safer sample handling. This can be obtained by employing multivariate regression models in the framework of a chemometric analytical approach. In the present work some gasoline properties including density, Reid vapor pressure, Research Octane Number, aromatic hydrocarbons content and fraction recovered at 70 degrees C were determined with standard methods (ISO, CEN, ASTM) on 93 samples of unleaded gasoline produced in an oil refinery. The same samples were also analyzed by FT-IR spectrophotometry, recording absorptions of seven characteristic bands. The obtained values of chemical-physical and spectroscopic properties were used to develop and validate a multivariate regression model. This established an experimental correlation between these two sets of variables derived from the same gasoline samples. The model was able to correctly predict the chemical physical properties of a set of unknown gasoline samples produced in the same refinery starting from the spectroscopic ones.
Pavoni
Bruno
B
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università Ca Foscari Venezia, Calle Larga S. Marta 2137, 30123 Venezia, Italy. brown@unive.it
Rado
Nadia
N
Piazza
Rossano
R
Frignani
Silvano
S
D002627:Chemistry, Physical / Q000379:methods; D005742:Gasoline / Q000032:analysis*; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000032:analysis; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / Q000379:methods*
D005742:Gasoline; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic