Plymouth University Markes’ mass spectrometer, the BenchTOF, has played a key role in the ground-breaking research into highly complex mixtures found in Canada’s oil sands. We talked to Professor Steve Rowland, Head of the Petroleum & Environmental Geochemistry Group at Plymouth University, to find out more. What were the findings from your research? Using two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry, we studied highly complex mixtures found in the process water from oil sands, and identified individual naphthenic acids. Our research also uncovered the presence of tricyclic diamondoid acids, which had never before been considered as naphthenic acids, suggesting an unprecedented degree of biodegradation of some of the oil in the oil sands. Rapid expansion of the o

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