Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.49, No.23, 12263-12268, 2010
Discriminatory Analysis of Marine-Engine Lubricants Using Hopane Biomarkers
Twenty marine-engine lubricants from five Japanese oil companies were discriminated on the basis on a hopane analysis using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The hopane ratios of 18 alpha-22,29,30-trisnorneohopane (1) to 17 alpha-22,29,30-trisnorhopane (2) and of 17 alpha-21 beta(H)-norhopane (3) to 17 alpha-21 beta(H)-hopane (5) were determined. Each lubricant can be discriminated by combining the figures represented by the 1 to 2 and 3 to 5 ratios and principal component analysis from 1 through (22R)-17 alpha-21 beta(H)-29-pentakishomohopane (15). Oleanane (4), one of the biomarkers inherent in the crude oils from Southeast Asia, has been detected in the lubricants of eight out of 20 types, and 4 represents a significant feature for the discrimination. The discrimination of the lubricants in the spilled oils was also investigated.