APPLICATION OF FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY TO THE STUDY OF PETROLEUM - CHALLENGING COMPLEXITY

Due to its sensitivity and selectivity, fluorescence spectroscopy is i ncreasingly used in petroleum technology. Firstly, the fundamentals of fluorescence are briefly presented, emphasizing the many difficulties encountered because of the medium complexity and the recent developme nts of methods like synchronously excited fluorescence spectroscopy an d remote detection. Then, the main application fields are successively reviewed, that is identification of pollutant sources, crude oils fin gerprinting, information for drilling and exploration and finally the analysis of petroleum constituents. Fluorogenic reactants are only use d for trace metal detection after sample mineralization.