Molecular weight distribution for heavy fossil fuels from gel-permeation chromatography and characterization data

Abstract

A correlation is presented for calculating molecular weight distributions for high-boiling hydrocarbon mixtures from measurements using gel-permeation chromatography (GPC). The correlation uses GPC elution volume, hydrogen-to-carbon ratio from elemental analysis, and hydrogen distribution from H NMR spectroscopy. Results for 45 pure hydrocarbons give an average deviation of less than 4%. For application to fractions, the procedure is illustrated with results for an Alaskan North-Slope residue. Characterization data are reported for 13 heavy fossil-fuel fractions, including coal-liquefaction products and crude oils.