IDENTIFICATION OF OIL COMPONENTS BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY FOLLOWED BY LOW TEMPERATURE LUMINESCENCE ANALYSIS

A study was begun using gas chromatography, followed by low temperature (77 degrees K) luminescence analysis, to identify major emitting components of oil. Measurement at low temperature was performed because additional phosphorescence emission could appear, and because spectral bandwidths become narrower, permitting better specificity. Specific oil components, such as naphthalene derivatives, were measured quantitatively. Data on individual components were used to interpret the luminescence of non-chromatographed samples, leading to a better basis for the phenomenological methods of oil identification now in use.