Use of a Portable, Fiber-Optics, CCD Spectrophotometer to Measure Friedel-Crafts Products in the Detection of Crude Oil, Fuel, and Solvent Contamination of Soil

Abstract

The utilization of a test kit employing Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions to produce intensely colored products of aromatic compounds in the analytes (typically crude oils and fuels) which are caused to react with solvent constituents has facilitated removal of contaminated soils and provided an extremely accurate and rapid analysis of remediation processes. The extraction/colorimetric method has employed visual comparison of results with photograph standards. Testing of a new, portable spectrophotometric read-out device has been completed on a selected group of crude oils, fuels, and solvents. This paper describes results of the use of the device in determining concentration of a typical West Texas crude oil, a gasoline, and a diesel fuel in soil. The extremely small size (5″× 7″× 3″) of the device is made possible by the use of a recently-developed single-fiber optic/CCD spectrometer “bench”. The instrument is interfaced to a 486 SX “notebook” PC. An algorithm for software development using color values developed by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) was incorporated to provide quantitative analytical data.