Elemental and spectroscopic characterization of fractions of an acidic extract of oil sands process water

'Naphthenic acids' (NAs) in petroleum produced water and oil sands process water (OSPW), have been implicated in toxicological effects. However, many are not well characterized. A method for fractionation of NAs of an OSPW was used herein and a multi-method characterization of the fraction...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jones, D., Scarlett, Alan, West, C., Frank, R., Gieleciak, R., Hager, D., Pureveen, J., Tegelaar, E., Rowland, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31138
_version_ 1848753291792482304
author Jones, D.
Scarlett, Alan
West, C.
Frank, R.
Gieleciak, R.
Hager, D.
Pureveen, J.
Tegelaar, E.
Rowland, S.
author_facet Jones, D.
Scarlett, Alan
West, C.
Frank, R.
Gieleciak, R.
Hager, D.
Pureveen, J.
Tegelaar, E.
Rowland, S.
author_sort Jones, D.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description 'Naphthenic acids' (NAs) in petroleum produced water and oil sands process water (OSPW), have been implicated in toxicological effects. However, many are not well characterized. A method for fractionation of NAs of an OSPW was used herein and a multi-method characterization of the fractions conducted. The unfractionated OSPW acidic extract was characterized by elemental analysis, electrospray ionization-Orbitrap-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and an esterified extract by Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV) absorption spectroscopy and by comprehensive multidimensional gas chromatography-MS (GCxGC-MS). Methyl esters were fractionated by argentation solid phase extraction (Ag+ SPE) and fractions eluting with: hexane; diethyl ether: hexane and diethyl ether, examined. Each was weighed, examined by elemental analysis, FTIR, UV, GC-MS and GCxGC-MS (both nominal and high resolution MS). The ether fraction, containing sulfur, was also examined by GCxGC-sulfur chemiluminescence detection (GCxGC-SCD).The major ions detected by ESI-MS in the OSPW extract were assigned to alicyclic and aromatic 'O2' acids; sulfur was also present. Components recovered by Ag+ SPE were also methyl esters of alicyclic and aromatic acids; these contained little sulfur or nitrogen. FTIR spectra showed that hydroxy acids and sulfoxides were absent or minor. UV spectra, along with the C/H ratio, further confirmed the aromaticity of the hexane:ether eluate. The more minor ether eluate contained further aromatics and 1.5% sulfur. FTIR spectra indicated free carboxylic acids, in addition to esters. Four major sulfur compounds were detected by GCxGC-SCD. GCxGC-high resolution MS indicated these were methyl esters of C18 S-containing, diaromatics with =C3 carboxylic acid side chains. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T08:22:11Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-31138
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T08:22:11Z
publishDate 2013
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-311382017-09-13T15:13:58Z Elemental and spectroscopic characterization of fractions of an acidic extract of oil sands process water Jones, D. Scarlett, Alan West, C. Frank, R. Gieleciak, R. Hager, D. Pureveen, J. Tegelaar, E. Rowland, S. 'Naphthenic acids' (NAs) in petroleum produced water and oil sands process water (OSPW), have been implicated in toxicological effects. However, many are not well characterized. A method for fractionation of NAs of an OSPW was used herein and a multi-method characterization of the fractions conducted. The unfractionated OSPW acidic extract was characterized by elemental analysis, electrospray ionization-Orbitrap-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and an esterified extract by Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV) absorption spectroscopy and by comprehensive multidimensional gas chromatography-MS (GCxGC-MS). Methyl esters were fractionated by argentation solid phase extraction (Ag+ SPE) and fractions eluting with: hexane; diethyl ether: hexane and diethyl ether, examined. Each was weighed, examined by elemental analysis, FTIR, UV, GC-MS and GCxGC-MS (both nominal and high resolution MS). The ether fraction, containing sulfur, was also examined by GCxGC-sulfur chemiluminescence detection (GCxGC-SCD).The major ions detected by ESI-MS in the OSPW extract were assigned to alicyclic and aromatic 'O2' acids; sulfur was also present. Components recovered by Ag+ SPE were also methyl esters of alicyclic and aromatic acids; these contained little sulfur or nitrogen. FTIR spectra showed that hydroxy acids and sulfoxides were absent or minor. UV spectra, along with the C/H ratio, further confirmed the aromaticity of the hexane:ether eluate. The more minor ether eluate contained further aromatics and 1.5% sulfur. FTIR spectra indicated free carboxylic acids, in addition to esters. Four major sulfur compounds were detected by GCxGC-SCD. GCxGC-high resolution MS indicated these were methyl esters of C18 S-containing, diaromatics with =C3 carboxylic acid side chains. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31138 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.03.011 restricted
spellingShingle Jones, D.
Scarlett, Alan
West, C.
Frank, R.
Gieleciak, R.
Hager, D.
Pureveen, J.
Tegelaar, E.
Rowland, S.
Elemental and spectroscopic characterization of fractions of an acidic extract of oil sands process water
title Elemental and spectroscopic characterization of fractions of an acidic extract of oil sands process water
title_full Elemental and spectroscopic characterization of fractions of an acidic extract of oil sands process water
title_fullStr Elemental and spectroscopic characterization of fractions of an acidic extract of oil sands process water
title_full_unstemmed Elemental and spectroscopic characterization of fractions of an acidic extract of oil sands process water
title_short Elemental and spectroscopic characterization of fractions of an acidic extract of oil sands process water
title_sort elemental and spectroscopic characterization of fractions of an acidic extract of oil sands process water
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31138