Applications of supercritical fluid chromatography-mass spectrometry in the analysis of fossil fuels
Because the physical properties of a supercritical fluid (e.g., low viscosity, high diffusivity, and reasonable solubility, etc.) impart characteristics to the supercritical mobile phase intermediate to those of a liquid and a gas, SFC has allowed the separation of some components of complex mixtures that were not separable by gas chromatography or high performance liquid chromatography. The application of SFC-MS to the analysis of fossil fuels has been demonstrated primarily in our laboratories at Pacific Northwest Laboratory. One primary emphasis of our research programs involving fossil fuels analysis has been to develop supercritical fluids and chromatographic columns that can be used for the characterization of higher-molecular-weight (above 250 amu) and polar components of fossil fuels. Our research indicates that supercritical carbon dioxide is a reasonably poor solvent for PAH and polar-substituted PAH, and needs (at a minimum) to be modified with the addition of a few percent of a polar solvent, such as isopropanol, in order to solvate polar fossil fuels. Another primary emphasis has been the development of the SFC-MS interface and flow restrictor technology. Successful interfaces have been developed for coupling capillary columns to both quadrupole and magnetic sector mass spectrometers; a unique high flow rate interface for coupling packed microbore columns to a quadrupole instrument has also been developed. Our state of interface development is now such that SFC-MS can be used to analyze any high-molecular-weight compound that can be analyzed by GC-MS. The extension to components lacking the necessary volatility for analysis by GC-MS is now being realized with the application of polar-modified fluids. A variety of fossil fuels, including diesel fuels, diesel fuel sediments, coal-derived liquids, and porphyrins, have been analyzed by SFC-MS and related techniques. 13 refs.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 6313501
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-14650; CONF-8705114-5; ON: DE87013325
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 35. conference on mass spectrometry and applied topics, Denver, CO, USA, 24 May 1987; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
COAL LIQUIDS
SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHY
DIESEL FUELS
FOSSIL FUELS
MASS SPECTROMETERS
INTERFACES
PORPHYRINS
AMMONIA
CARBON DIOXIDE
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
LIQUID COLUMN CHROMATOGRAPHY
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
VISCOSITY
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHROMATOGRAPHY
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FUELS
HETEROCYCLIC ACIDS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIQUIDS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPECTROMETERS
SPECTROSCOPY
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