Development of a Method for the Determination of the Blue Dye in Gas Oils by Hyphenated Np-hplc/dad System

In the EU countries a system is in place for marking and coloring fuel to distinguish different fuel tax class. Fiscal marker present in fuel does not change the color of fuel and it is determined by the reference method for the determination of the European Union euromarker (Solvent Yellow 124) in gas oil (method of high performance liquid chromatography, HPLC with detection by UV / DAD) 1. By adding the blue dye to a fuel it changes color significantly and it is possible to immediately distinguish the colored from uncolored fuels. In the laboratory the content of SY 124 marker is analyzed in extra light fuel oil (LUEL) and diesel blue (EU DG PL) by HPLC method. Analyses are performed on an Agilent liquid chromatography system 1100, and a column packed with silica gel is used for separation. For the mobile phase, a mixture of toluene and ethyl acetate is used in the system. The paper describes the development of a method for the determination of the blue dye in gas oil samples simultaneously with the determination of the marker, as well as problems and challenges of quantification.