Analysis of Middle Distillate Fuels by High Resolution Field Ionization Mass Spectrometry.
Abstract
A method for the rapid and detailed chemical characterization of distillate fuels has been developed using high resolution field ionziation mass spectrometric (HR-FIMS) techniques. A vintage AEI MS-9 mass spectrometer has been modified to house a volcano-style field ionizer and has been equipped with a high-temperature batch inlet system. Field ionization is particularly useful in this regard because it produces only molecular ions for most compounds and because different compound types do not differ in their ionization efficiencies by more than a factor of four. The mass spectrometer is operated at a resolution of 3000, which is adequate to resolve all the different types of hydrocarbons likely to be present in the fuel sample. Software has been written to present the mass spectrum intensities in a matrix where the various columns represent the different z-series of the hydrocarbons and the rows represent the number of carbon atoms in any given component. Analysis of a stable and an unstable jet fuel showed that the unstable fuel had a substantially higher naphthalene content.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 29, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA147724
Entities
People
- D. Tse
- M. J. Coggiola
- R. Malhotra
- S. E. Buttrill Jr.
- S. E. Young
Organizations
- SRI International