The scientists of Samara University have found a way to 'sign' the oil

The scientists of the Department of Physical Chemistry and Chromatography of Samara University (joint SSAU and SSU) have developed a way to mark the oil covertly.
 

The basis of this method is the addition of special chemical substances- molecular markers in microscopic doses to the “black gold”. They do not affect the quality and consumer properties of hydrocarbon mixtures, do not cause corrosion, they are non-toxic and completely resolved during oil refining.
 

By using the method of gas chromatographic analysis, these markers can “tell” the specialists where this oil was recovered and when it was shipped to the customer, as well as how the logistics was carried out on the way to its further refinery. Moreover, unlike various dyes which are sometimes used for oil marking, the development of Samara University chemists is visually undetectable.
 

“Marker substances are added to the products in very small quantities - in fact, on the trace level. Such concentrations are detected only by means of special chemical, physical or physical and chemical methods of analysis”, - said Kirill Kopytin, Candidate of Chemical Sciences, one of the authors of this development, senior lecturer in the Department of Physical Chemistry and Chromatography of Samara University.
 

Different types of markers are widely used by foreign oil-producing and oil transportation companies as a way to combat theft and forgery of oil and oil products.
 

The method offered by the Samara chemists has several advantages. First of all, it's completely domestic product, which is used only Russian reactive chemicals and equipment. Secondly, it’s a successful combination of technological and economic advantages of the development compared with foreign counterparts. “Invisible agents” are much safer than colour indicators, have comparable price and they are much cheaper than foreign markers at equitable reliability level (the value of molecular markers of domestic production is ten times lower than its foreign counterparts). In addition, it’s practically impossible to neutralize the markers developed in Samara University by mixing with other chemicals.
 

The main purpose of the markers is to prevent theft of oil from the pipeline and product pipelines, tanks and warehouses. Besides, with the help of these hidden markers it’s easy to determine the oil movement and to carry out the input supply control during oil acceptance on oil refinery plants. The companies associated with the service of pipelines and bulk plants, as well as the specialists of relevant ministries in Samara Region expressed their interest in the development of the Samara University scientists. The project has entered into a strategic research program of technological platform “Technology of hydrocarbon production and use”. The necessary development work is carried out.
 

The next work stage of the Samara University chemistry scientists will be the development of hidden markers for petrochemical products - gasoline and oil. This is particularly true for consumers of petroleum products, wholesalers and retailers, refineries and petrochemical plants.  With these markers you can easily keep track of the product commodity turnover, find out which company owns the product and whether it is consistent with the declared quality.