Jet fuel characterization on the battlefield: Method development

CHED 333

Julianne L. Kulevich, jlkule08@holycross.edu1, Jane M. Van Doren, jvandore@holycross.edu1, Edward J. Soares2, Robert E. Morris, morris4@ccs.nrl.navy.mil3, and Kevin J. Johnson, kevinj@ccs.nrl.navy.mil3. (1) Department of Chemistry, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College Street, P.O. Box 1307, Worcester, MA 01610, (2) Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College Street, Worcester, MA 01610, (3) Code 6112, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375
Fuel is one of the most important supplies for military actions. In order to check for degradation or contamination, each fuel must be fully characterized before being used. Current methods of fuel quality analysis in the field are slow and require large instruments that are difficult to transport. A single spectroscopic method that can characterize each fuel quickly and completely using only a small sample is in development. Forty-six different fuel samples were examined using ATR-FTIR and FT-Raman spectroscopy. Studies were performed to observe the influence resolution and signal averaging have on the accuracy of the fuel characterization. The corresponding data was analyzed by principal component analysis and partial least squares analysis. Principal component analysis of FT-Raman and ATR-FTIR spectroscopic data can distinguish between fuel types. This spectroscopic data can accurately predict some, but not all, of the critical properties of each fuel sample through partial least squares analysis.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Analytical Chemistry
11:00 AM-1:00 PM, Monday, March 26, 2007 Hyatt Regency Chicago -- Riverside Center, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 233rd ACS National Meeting, Chicago, IL, March 25-29, 2007