Quantitative determination of sulfur compounds in FCC gasolines by AED. A study of the effect of catalyst type and catalytic conditions on sulfur distribution

Abstract

AbstractThe identification and quantification of sulfur‐containing compounds in gasoline has become an area of interest because of impending legislation regulating total sulfur levels in these fuels. To study the effects of catalyst type and catalytic conditions on gasoline sulfur distribution, a method has been developed employing both the compound‐independent and element‐specific response of the atomic emission detector (AED). Calibration and quantification can be accomplished even where standards are not available, owing to the nature of the AED response.Compounds were separated on a thick film polydimethylsiloxane column. An external calibration curve was applied to the area responses of individual sulfur components in the sulfur chromatogram, and the concentrations of each were calculated. Summation of these sulfur concentrations over the gasoline range yields the total sulfur content of the gasoline.The method is applicable to the determination of these compounds in raw crude oils, finished gasolines, fluid cracking catalyst (FCC) unit gasolines, and fluid catalytic cracking “model” compound studies. A prefractionating column was employed to remove heavy (>C13) materials; prefractionation is not, however, necessary for distilled or commercial gasoline samples. Detection limits, linearity, detector stability, and accuracy are discussed.