Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Analysis (TPH-g) Using A SAW/GC: Real-Time Analytical Data for Environmental Clean-Up Operations

A major contributor to atmospheric and ground water pollution is caused by fuel hydrocarbons. These problems can often occur through accidental emission during storage or use. Out of the millions of underground fuel storage tanks that are in place throughout the country many are leaking and many more are destined to produce leaks at some future date. The problem is serious enough that under the law (40CFR 260 subtitle I of RCRA) legislation exists that deals only with of leaking underground fuel tanks (LUFT) concerns. During clean up operations at LUFT sites which sometimes cost many millions of dollars site operations are driven by fugitive hydrocarbon levels. Hydrocarbon concentrations are usually derived by sub-soil sampling followed by time consuming laboratory analysis. Field portable instruments for the analysis of fuel hydrocarbons must be able to provide legally defensible data acquired by the application of strictly applied methods as defined by state and federal government. (i.e. CA LUFT Method 1000 or EPA SW846 methods). This paper describes research on a fast GC vapor analysis system with a new type of Surface Acoustic Wave detector to characterize organic contamination in soil and groundwater. The project was sponsored by the Department of Energy, Morgantown Energy Technology Center. Field screening using SAW/GC technologies can result in great cost saving particularly when the SAW/GC technology can emulate one of the EPA methodologies. TPH-g methodology has particular relevance to LUFT sites and can provide a total integration number based on a selected range of alkane or aromatic hydrocarbons.