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Oil in Water
Crude oil, which
is also called Petroleum, is found beneath the earth's surface where
it was formed millions of years ago by natural processes. Crude
oil is present in the environment as either oil in water (emulsions)
or dissolved oil in water (molecular). The detection of crude oil
is a parameter that managers, researchers and consultants continue
to add to their suite of measurements taken during environmental
monitoring projects. Its chemical structure is mainly made up of
6-sided aromatic carbon rings, which are highly fluorescent, therefore
it can be detected quite easily using fluorescence techniques. Determining
the fluorescence of oil in aquatic environments further improves
the optical characterization of the water column.
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