Chemical analysis of racing fuels using total vaporization and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS)

Abstract

The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is the governing body of North American drag racing. As a supervisory agency, NHRA monitors racing fuels for regulatory purposes and quality control. In this paper, total vaporization and mass spectrometry based methods were developed to analyze nitromethane-based and racing gasoline fuels. Total Vaporization Headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TV-HS-GC/MS) was used to quatitate the amount of methanol in nitromethane fuels to verify that the methanol content was at least 10% (v/v). Total vaporization solid phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TV-SPME-GC/MS) was used to qualitatively identify racing gasoline components, which included isopentane, isooctane, toluene, and tetraethyllead.