Open Access

The combination of fossil-derived fuels with ethanol and methanol has acquired relevance and attention in several countries in recent years. This trend is strongly affected by market prices, constant geopolitical events, new sustainability policies, new laws and regulations, etc. Besides bio-fuels these materials also include different additives as anti-shock agents and as octane enhancer. Some of the chemical compounds in these additives may have harmful properties for both environment and public health (besides the inherent properties, like volatility). We present detailed Raman spectral information from toluene (C7H8) and ethanol (C2H6O) contained in samples of ElO gasoline-ethanol blends. The spectral information has been extracted by using a robust, high resolution Fourier-Transform Raman spectrometer (FT-Raman) prototype. This spectral information has been also compared with Raman spectra from pure additives and with standard Raman lines in order to validate its accuracy in frequency. The spectral information is presented in the range of 0 cm-1 to 3500 cm-1 with a resolution of 1.66cm-1. This allows resolving tight adjacent Raman lines like the ones observed around 1003cm-1 and 1030cm-1 (characteristic lines of toluene). The Raman spectra obtained show a reduced frequency deviation when compared to standard Raman spectra from different calibration materials. The FT-Raman spectrometer prototype used for the analysis consist basically of a Michelson interferometer and a self-designed photon counter cooled down on a Peltier element arrangement. The light coupling is achieved with conventional62.5/125μm multi-mode fibers. This FT-Raman setup is able to extract high resolution and frequency precise Raman spectra from the additives in the fuels analyzed. The proposed prototype has no additional complex hardware components or costly software modules. The mechanical and thermal disturbances affecting the FT-Raman system are mathematically compensated by accurately extracting the optical path information of the Michelson interferometer. This is accomplished by generating an additional interference pattern with a λ = 632.8 nm Helium-Neon laser (HeNe laser). It enables the FT-Raman system to perform reliable and clean spectral measurements from the materials under observation.

Raman spectra from three different binary gasoline-ethanol blends (with ratios 95:5, 90:10, and 85:15) have been obtained by using a low-cost, frequency precise Fourier-transform Raman spectrometer (FT-Raman) prototype. The spectral information is presented in the range of 0 to 3500 cm-1 with a resolution of 1.66 cm-1, which is greater than the required for most liquid and solid chemical samples. This set-up delivers spectral information about the sample with a reduced spectral deviation compared to theoretical values (less than 0.4 cm-1 without compensation for instrumental response). The robust and highly fexible FT-Raman prototype presented for the spectral analysis, consisting mainly of a Michelson interferometer and a self-designed photon counter, is able to deliver high resolution and frequency precise Raman spectra from the gasoline-ethanol blends comparable to the obtained by using commercial devices. This FT-Raman set-up does not need additional complex hardware or software control and relies on re-sampling and interpolation algorithms. The qualitative spectral information obtained has been used to calculate the proportion of gasoline and ethanol present in the used chemical samples without using extra calibrations methods or chemical markers.