A description of the phenomenon with the volume scattering function assumes

the single scattering model (a particular photon does not interact with more than one particle of emulsion). The correctness of such a description of a real phenomenon has been tested for light scattering at right angles in a Baltic crude oil – seawater emulsion ( Stelmaszewski et al. 2009). The spectral dependence of the calculated function for wavelengths from 380 nm to 730 nm was compared with the measured scattering spectrum. This test has shown that the scattering function β corresponds to experimental results and that the single scattering model does provide an adequate description of the phenomenon. Application of this model under natural conditions to the scattering of solar radiation in polluted seawater needs to take into consideration the fluorescence of the emulsions. selleckchem This is important because petroleum is a fluorescent medium. Emulsion particles are fluorescent objects

and, moreover, dissolving the fluorescent compounds can accompany emulsifying oil in water. The test mentioned above was carried out for monochromatic radiation (the scattered light measured had the same wavelength as the illuminating radiation), and fluorescence remained undetected in these measurements. In the case learn more of polychromatic radiation like natural sunlight, the separation of fluorescence from scattering appears Mannose-binding protein-associated serine protease to be impossible. The foregoing indicates that any investigation of light scattering in an oil-in-water emulsion should be supplemented by a study of its fluorescence properties. This is the subject of this paper: it discusses the fluorescence of emulsions of seven different oils representing the main petroleum types. These emulsions were tested in the spectral range from 220 nm to 720 nm. The important question was to determine how photoluminescence can influence light scattering measurements. To this end, fluorescence and scattering

spectra were measured and the intensities of these phenomena compared. The test was carried out on seven different types of petroleum: two crude oils of differing properties (Baltic and Romashkino), two fuels, as well as lubricating, hydraulic and transformer oils. Samples of each oil were emulsified in seawater. Because the water should be assumed to be a non- fluorescent and fully transparent medium, it was prepared by dissolving the principal sea salts in demineralized water to achieve an ionic composition similar to that of natural water of salinity 7.5 PSU. The emulsion was prepared as follows. An aliquot of oil (3 cm 3) was dissolved in n-hexane (2 cm 3), and this solution was stirred with water (3 dm3) in a stainless steel vessel at 600 rpm for 3 hours. The emulsion was then allowed to stabilize at 20°C for 24 hours.