Research dissolved in sea water by means of gas mass spectrometer with membrane separator interface

Underwater mass spectrometer has been used to detect and measure the concentration of oil in the sea water by measuring the concentrations of the three hydrocarbons: benzene, toluene and xylene in the area of specialized sea oil port of Primorsk in the Gulf of Finland in situ. Sample input seawater into the quadrupole mass spectrometer was monitored through the membrane interface with a silicone membrane. The resulting mass spectra demonstrated the ability to measure the concentration of oil in the sea water and determine the type of oil without sample preparation. We investigated the sensitivity of the mass spectrometer at different temperatures of sea water and the suspension of oil droplets of different diameters. It is shown that the use of a mass spectrometer with membrane separator interface allows to measure the concentration of hydrocarbons with high precision, which is currently not supported in commercially available monitors.