Tandem sulfur chemiluminescence and flame ionization detection with planar microfluidic devices for the characterization of sulfur compounds in hydrocarbon matrices

The detection of sulfur compounds in different hydrocarbon matrices, from light hydrocarbon feedstocks to medium synthetic crude oil feeds provides meaningful information for optimization of refining processes as well as demonstration of compliance with petroleum product specifications. With the incorporation of planar microfluidic devices in a novel chromatographic configuration, sulfur compounds from hydrogen sulfide to alkyl dibenzothiophenes and heavier distributions of sulfur compounds over a wide range of matrices spanning across a boiling point range of more than 650°C can be characterized, using one single analytical configuration in less than 25 min. In tandem with a sulfur chemiluminescence detector for sulfur analysis is a flame ionization detector. The flame ionization detector can be used to establish the boiling point range of the sulfur compounds in various hydrocarbon fractions for elemental specific simulated distillation analysis as well as profiling the hydrocarbon matrices for process optimization. Repeatability of less than 3% RSD (n = 20) over a range of 0.5–1000 parts per million (v/v) was obtained with a limit of detection of 50 parts per billion and a linear range of 0.5–1000 parts per million with a correlation co-efficient of 0.998.