Development of Industrialization Process of Pesticide Residue Analysis Grade <i>n</i>-Hexane

Abstract

Pesticide residue grade solvents have the characteristic of ultra high purity, low UV value, low pH value, low moisture content and low evaporation residue, which do not have those controlled impurity peak in pesticide chromatographic detection. This project is funded by the China government to develop the industrialization process of pesticide residue grade n-hexane, in which the industrial n-Hexane is used as crude purified by decoloration, distillation and filtration process. The products are validated by National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurement (CNEAC), National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine (CAIQ), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and other government originations for polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticide or chiral pesticides analysis and further confirmed that it’s competitive to all others imported n-Hexane currently occupied in China. The optimized process parameters are: firstly utilizing 2% of silicon dioxide as decoloration agent then rinsed with distillation water before distillation. The heating temperature of two distillation towers is 88°C with reflux ratio of 15:1 and 4:1 respectively, the discharge rate of heavy component is 20 mL/min, the yield of this process is approximately 70%. This patented technique will meet pesticide residue grade n-Hexane market in China and seek for cooperation globally.