On the Role of Process Forensics in the Characterization of Fugitive Gasoline

The need to determine the source(s) of fugitive gasoline in the environment is common when multiple candidate sources co-exist nearby to the discovery or when gasoline is discovered subsequent to a property transfer. Process forensics is the component of environmental forensics that relies upon a detailed understanding of the current and historic refining and engineering practices and how these practices would predictably have affected the chemical composition of the automotive gasoline manufactured at different refineries at different times. Since not all gasoline is 'created equal', when the detailed "chemical fingerprint" of a fugitive gasoline in the environment is interpreted in light of process forensics, a more thorough understanding of the production practices used to refine the fugitive gasoline can emerge. In some circumstances this knowledge can help to implicate a particular source(s) of the gasoline.