Determination of Oxygenates in Gasoline by GC×GC

Abstract

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) has been applied to the quantitation of oxygenates in reformulated gasoline. Target oxygenates were C1–C4 alcohols, tert-pentanol, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), diisopropyl ether (DIPE), ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), and tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME). These were separated from the gasoline matrix using a volatility-based selectivity in the first chromatographic dimension, followed by a mixed-phase polarity/shape selectivity in the second dimension. The high resolving power of this stationary phase combination completely separated all oxygenates except DIPE, ETBE, and TAME, which exhibited coelution with other nonpolar gasoline components. Oxygenates quantitation was achieved with the use of an internal standard, an FID detector, and calibration curves. Quantitation results are in good agreement with ASTM and EPA standard methods. When coupled with our previous method for BTEX and aromatics, a single GC×GC method can now quantitate MTBE, alcohols, BTEX, and aromatics in a one-hour analysis.