Mobile Fuel Screening with FOSS Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

FOSS NIRSystems Near-Infrared (NIR) analyzers have been used for rapid analysis of petrochemical materials on-line and in the lab since the late 1980’s. Many of the same parameters measured by NIR in the production of gasoline and diesel are required to be measured for these fuels at service stations and fuel depots by regulatory agencies. There is a huge advantage if the analysis can be done on-site using fresh samples, without having to transport them to testing laboratories. This also simplifies the associated documentation and paper trail and dramatically reduces traditional testing costs.

FOSS NIR fills this need easily, due to its ability to measure the important fuel parameters non-destructively, and with minimal sample handling or preparation. The FOSS NIR analyzer is placed in a mobile van, and is powered by battery, using an inverter. The van is driven to each service station, where the various grades of gasoline and diesel are sampled for the NIR analysis. Samples are simply placed into 8 mm disposable HPLC vials, and placed into a sample holder in the FOSS NIRSystems XDS Rapid Liquid Analyzer. Samples are temperature equilibrated for about 60 seconds prior to scanning to provide better accuracy than when temperature varies with ambient conditions. The NIR scan itself is complete in less than 30 seconds. When complete, the sample and HPLC vial can be simply thrown away, and no sample clean-up is needed. The analysis does not require trained analysts for this simple sampling procedure.

On-site testing with a FOSS NIR analyzer provides instantaneous results, which has many advantages over traditional testing in a laboratory. One NIR scan provides simultaneous analyses of the parameters listed in the table for Gasoline and Diesel. The NIR results have accuracy equivalent to that of the more time-consuming traditional methods. The XDS Rapid Liquid Analyzer provides these analyses of both gasoline and diesel (including biodiesel) samples with one NIR instrument.

Traditional laboratory based testing limits the number of service stations that can be monitored in an eight hour day to roughly 2-3. This is due to the time required for sampling and associated paperwork prior to transport to the testing lab. With on-site NIR testing, more than 10 service stations can be sampled, and tested, easily within one eight hour day. With FOSS NIR, more sites can be tested more often.

There are also significant cost advantages for on-site NIR over traditional tests, as the cost of multiple tests for each gasoline and diesel sample can result in hundreds of US Dollars per service station. The cost of the NIR testing is only the cost of a few disposable HPLC vials. FOSS NIR has an additional benefit, in that it can be used not only for these quantitative screening tests, but also for qualitative screening (comparison to library spectra of good quality fuels) to screen for fuel adulteration, which could be missed by traditional quantitative screening tests.

Mobile NIR fuel testing using the FOSS NIRSystems XDS Rapid Liquid Analyzer has been successfully implemented in a number of countries where they enjoy the benefits of having instantaneous on-site results for gasoline and diesel testing. The FOSS NIRSystems XDS does not require trained analysts, and the calibrations do not need constant maintenance, making this an ideal way to monitor fuels at service stations.

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