TPH Analysis in South Africa
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UIS Organic Laboratory offers a C10-C40 TPH analysis that has been developed in-house. Using certified diesel and motor oil standards, this method enables us to determine the total hydrocarbon concentration over the diesel/oil range.

Different methods of extraction are used for soil and water samples.

For water samples a liquid-liquid extraction is used, while an Accelerated Solvent Extractor is used for the extraction of soils. The resulting extracts are then analyzed using liquid injection on a Bruker 450GC-300MS Triple Quadrapole .

As a standard we report a C10-28, C28-40 and a C10-40 total, but specific TPH breakdowns between C10 and C40 can be tailored to client specifications at a slightly higher price (See Pricelist).



If you’re looking for a TPH definition, the World Wide Web will probably introduce you to such definitions as:

“Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) is sometimes referred to as mineral oil, hydrocarbon oil, extractable hydrocarbons, and oil and grease. The definition of TPH depends on the analytical method used because the TPH measurement is the total concentration of the hydrocarbons extracted and measured by a particular method.”

(Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Criteria Working Group Series, Volume 1. Analysis of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Environmental Media)


Total petroleum hydrocarbons. The mass of hydrocarbon present in a sample according to a specific analytical method. Land Contamination: Technical Guidance on Special Sites: Petroleum Refineries R&D Technical Report P5-042/TR/05 D J Nancarrow et al.



TPH Analysis is generally used for semi-volatile, heavier volatile and heavier analytes that need solvent extraction.