ANALYSIS OF VOLATILE AROMATIC COMPOUNDS IN HEAVY FUEL OILS USING PURGE AND TRAP EXTRACTION AND A GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC–MASS SPECTROMETRIC TECHNIQUE

The volatile fraction of heavy fuel oils used in thermal power plants is characterized by the presence of trace amounts of potentially carcinogenic compounds, i.e. benzene and toluene, ethylbenzene and the xylenes (BTEX). In this paper, an original methodology for the determination of these compounds in such a complex matrix is presented. It consists of a capillary gas chromatographic-quadrupole mass spectrometric method preceded by the extraction and enrichment of the substituted benzenes by using a purge and trap” technique. Results obtained analyzing heavy fuel oil actual samples are reported as well.