Premium
Characterization of Athabasca lean oil sands and mixed surficial materials: Comparison of capillary electrophoresis/low‐resolution mass spectrometry and high‐resolution mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
MacLennan Matthew S.,
Peru Kerry M.,
Swyngedouw Chris,
Fleming Ian,
Chen David D.Y.,
Headley John V.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.8093
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , chromatography , oil sands , capillary electrophoresis , naphthenic acid , orbitrap , sample preparation , electrospray ionization , resolution (logic) , hydrocarbon , gas chromatography , analytical chemistry (journal) , capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry , asphalt , corrosion , cartography , organic chemistry , artificial intelligence , computer science , geography
Rationale Oil sands mining in Alberta, Canada, requires removal and stockpiling of considerable volumes of near‐surface overburden material. This overburden includes lean oil sands (LOS) which cannot be processed economically but contain sparingly soluble petroleum hydrocarbons and naphthenic acids, which can leach into environmental waters. In order to measure and track the leaching of dissolved constituents and distinguish industrially derived organics from naturally occurring organics in local waters, practical methods were developed for characterizing multiple sources of contaminated water leakage. Methods Capillary electrophoresis/positive‐ion electrospray ionization low‐resolution time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (CE/LRMS), high‐resolution negative‐ion electrospray ionization Orbitrap mass spectrometry (HRMS) and conventional gas chromatography/flame ionization detection (GC/FID) were used to characterize porewater samples collected from within Athabasca LOS and mixed surficial materials. GC/FID was used to measure total petroleum hydrocarbon and HRMS was used to measure total naphthenic acid fraction components (NAFCs). HRMS and CE/LRMS were used to characterize samples according to source. Results The amounts of total petroleum hydrocarbon in each sample as measured by GC/FID ranged from 0.1 to 15.1 mg/L while the amounts of NAFCs as measured by HRMS ranged from 5.3 to 82.3 mg/L. Factors analysis (FA) on HRMS data visually demonstrated clustering according to sample source and was correlated to molecular formula. LRMS coupled to capillary electrophoresis separation (CE/LRMS) provides important information on NAFC isomers by adding analyte migration time data to m/z and peak intensity. Conclusions Differences in measured amounts of total petroleum hydrocarbons by GC/FID and NAFCs by HRMS indicate that the two methods provide complementary information about the nature of dissolved organic species in a soil or water leachate samples. NAFC molecule class O x S y is a possible tracer for LOS seepage. CE/LRMS provides complementary information and is a feasible and practical option for source evaluation of NAFCs in water.