The main objective of the present study was to assess the evaporation profile of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) in neat gasoline and gasoline-ethanol blend fuels. The vapors from two sealed columns containing river sand and distilled water were monitored during 18 days by SPME (solid-phase microextraction). BTEX that remained in the water and sand phases were extracted by SPE (solid-phase extraction) and Soxhlet, respectively. Instrumental analysis was performed by gas chromatography using a flame ionization detector (GC/FID). Toluene and ethylbenzene showed the highest volatilizations in the gasoline-ethanol column and the occurrence of attractive intermolecular forces among ethanol and BTEX molecules can be responsible for this distribution. Benzene showed the lowest reduction of concentration in the sand compartment in the gasoline-ethanol column.
gasoline; ethanol; BTEX; gas chromatography; volatilization
