Patent ID: 8759775
Filing Date: 2014-06-24
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for the selective detection of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in an environmental sample containing natural organic matter (NOM) by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, the method comprising the steps of: (i) providing TPH concentration regression models that have been obtained by performing multivariate regression analysis on data obtained by correlating the TPH concentration of one or more reference samples comprising known amounts of TPH with absorbance values of infrared (IR) signal(s) representative of TPH in the sample(s) centered on a signal at 1380 cm (ii) subjecting the environmental sample to IR radiation, and detecting an IR signal centered on a signal at 1380 cm to provide predictive TPH data; (iii) analyzing the predictive TPH data using the TPH concentration regression models; and (iv) providing an output TPH concentration of the environmental sample based on the analysis performed at step (iii), wherein said output TPH concentration is substantially independent of the presence of NOM in the environmental sample.