Analysis of total content of petroleum products in water by using FTIR spectroscopy

Contamination of aquatic and terrestrial environment with oil products is a major problem in processes of extraction, transport and processing of crude oil. Derived organic compounds, resulting from fractional distillation of crude oil often end up in wastewater and surface water causing irreversible effects on aquatic ecosystems. Thus, it’s necessary to identify and qualitatively determine the total content of petroleum products in water, by classical chemical, chromatographic and infrared spectroscopy methods. Gathering high-resolution spectral data was performed by a modern method, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), a relatively precise, high accuracy data method. The study’s main purpose is to describe most important steps to be followed to obtain representative results for the use of FTIR spectrometry in determining total content of petroleum products in water. Steps described in the study involve drawing the baseline, calibrating the method with certified reference materials and estimating the uncertainty degree of the analysis method used. The study of total content of petroleum products is addressed especially to researchers in the field of analytical chemistry to update the methods used, environmental engineers to estimate the pollution degree of a body of water and (PhD) students who want to deepen the field of petroleum compounds analysis.