The Potential Role of Carbon Isotopes in Characterization of the Origin and Fate of Biofuels

摘要

The role of stable isotopes in characterization of fuel additives, such as MTBE, has been widely documented in the peer reviewed literature. Whilst initially the role of isotopes was directed toward determination of the source of MTBE, more recent work has shown that a far more important application is monitoring the onset and extent of natural attenuation of MTBE. The early work in this area demonstrated that stable isotopes could be used in a qualitative manner but very recent is demonstrating that a great deal of quantitative data can also be obtained related to volume of MTBE removed by such processes and in turn provide estimates for the time required for a site to remediated by this process.