High Performance Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry for Comprehensive Petroleum Analysis

Petroleum is the most complex matrix in nature, constituted by many thousands of compounds. Full knowledge of composition of crude oil is the key in the rational use of reserves, optimization of production, the refining process, reduction of byproducts, quality control of derivatives, and many other crucial aspects of the petrochemical field. Advances in the performance of time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) such as high resolution, high mass accuracy, and high acquisition rate provide an alternative for most routine studies of volatile and semi-volatile compounds of crude oil and derivatives. In this work we investigate the composition of crude oils and derivatives by pairing High Resolution GC-TOFMS with a petroleomic software tool. Complementary GC×GC-TOFMS data provided isomeric composition