Wednesday Morning Session Preview: MS of Fuels, Biofuels, and Heavy Oils

Ballroom BDF

This Wednesday morning session on the important topic of fuel and oil analysis will include discussion of techniques such as desorption electrospray ionization MS, TOF and FT-ICR MS, thermal analysis coupled to GC and photoionization TOF-MS, liquid chromatography and FT-ICR MS, ion mobility MS, and electrospray ionization MS.

The first presentation will be given by R. Graham Cooks of Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana). Cooks will discuss how reactive desorption electrospray ionization allows rapid analysis of saturated hydrocarbons at atmospheric pressure. The presentation is titled “Ambient Analysis of Saturated Hydrocarbons Using Discharge-Induced Oxidation in Desorption Electrospray Ionization.”

Amy M. McKenna of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (Tallahassee, Florida) will present a talk titled “Noncovalent Aggregation: The Overriding Principle that Defines Mass Spectral Characterization of Asphaltenes.” Her presentation will report how time-of-flight MS was used to characterize asphaltene aggregation behavior in the gas phase and how FT-ICR MS was used to provide compositional analysis.

The next presentation in the session, “Thermal Analysis–Modulated Fast Gas Chromatography–Single Photon Ionization TOFMS for Comprehensive Characterization of Crude Oil Fractions and Polymers,” will be given by Ralf Zimmermann of the University of Rostock (Rostock, Germany). He will discuss the use of thermal analysis coupled to fast GC and soft photoionization TOF-MS to analyze crude oil fractions and polymers.

Wolfgang Schrader of Max-Planck Inst. Coal Res. (Mülheim/Ruhr, Germany) will present “Investigation of Deposition and Fouling in Crude Oils by Liquid Chromatography and FT-ICR Mass Spectrometry.” The talk will cover the combination of normal-phase liquid chromatography and MS to analyze fouling crude oils.

Christopher Becker’s (Baylor University, Waco, Texas) presentation, titled “Assessment of Asphaltene Structure Using Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry,” will discuss how elevating the electric field intensity in FAIMS accelerates analyses and enables new separations.

The session’s final presentation, to be given by G. John Langley of the University of Southampton (Southampton, UK), is titled “Biodiesel Analysis — Complexity and Time.” His talk will describe age profiling and analysis of biodiesel, along with evidence of epoxidation and oxidative polymerization.