A system consisted of flame ionization detector and sulfur chemiluminescence detector for interference free determination of total sulfur in natural gas

A new detection system consisted of a flame ionization detector (FID) and a sulfur chemiluminescence detector (SCD) was developed for sensitive and interference free determination of total sulfur in natural gas by non-separation gas chromatography. In this system, sulfur containing compounds and hydrocarbons were firstly burned in the FID using oxygen rich flame and converted to SO₂, CO₂ and H₂O, respectively. The products from FID were transported into the SCD with hydrogen rich atmosphere wherein only SO₂ could be reduced to SO and reacted with O₃ to produce characteristic chemiluminescence. Therefore, the chemiluminescence of CO found in conventional SCD were eliminated because CO₂ could not be reduced to CO under these conditions. The experimental parameters were systematically investigated. Limit of detection obtained by the proposed system is better than 0.5 μmol/mol for total sulfur and superior to those previously reported. The proposed method not only retains the advantages of the conventional SCD but also provides several unique advantages including no hydrocarbon interference, better stability, and easier calculation. The utility of this technique was demonstrated by the determination of total sulfur in real samples and two certified reference materials (GBW 06332 and GBW (E) 061320).     

Simultaneous Measurement of Hydrocarbons and Sulfur Compounds using Flame Ionization and Sulfur Chemiluminescence Detection for Sulfur Simulated Distillation

A gas chromatographic system for the simultaneous acquisition of hydrocarbon and sulfur chromatograms was developed. Detection of sulfur compounds is achieved using a sulfur chemiluminescence detector (SCD) mounted in series with a flame ionization detector (FID). A constant fraction of the effluent of the FID is transferred to the SCD by means of a fixed restrictor. Unlike previous versions of this approach, the FID is not used to generate the chemiluminescent sulfur species. Rather, the FID is operated under optimum conditions for hydrocarbon analysis and a furnace is used to generate the chemiluminescent sulfur species. The system permits dual acquisition of the hydrocarbon and sulfur signals in a single analysis with a single column, since the detectors are operated in a serial fashion. The application of sulfur simulated distillation using this approach was examined, since this requires simultaneous universal and sulfur selective detection. Precision of absolute response of both the FID and SCD was typically less than 2% RSD for a standard reference material.     

Comparison of combustion sources for sulfur chemiluminescence detection

Three different types of SCD combustion source have been evaluated for use in the chromatographic analysis of atmospheric sulfur compounds. The conventional FID source and the newer inverted burner source were found to be less sensitive and less stable than the flameless design. Overall, the flameless source was superior for use with HRGC-SCD.     

A novel system for measurement of types and densities of sulfur crosslinks of a filled rubber vulcanizate

A novel system for measuring the crosslink densities of mono-, di- and polysulfides of a filled rubber vulcanizate was developed. The system included pre-swelling, cleavage of sulfur crosslinks by a chemical probe using thiol/n-hexylamine instead of thiol/piperidine, and two step swelling. A sample cage made of stainless steel mesh was used to measure multiple samples at the same time and to reduce experimental errors. The organic materials-extracted sample was pre-swollen in toluene to introduce the probe chemicals more rapidly and homogeneously into the whole network. Polysulfidic crosslinkages were cleaved by a chemical probe of propane-2-thiol/n-hexylamine in toluene, while di- and polysulfidic crosslinkages were dissociated by a chemical probe of n-hexanethiol/n-hexylamine in toluene. The experimental errors were lower than 2%. By using cubic apparent crosslink density, fractions of the crosslink types of an unknown rubber vulcanizate could be estimated even although the filler content and rubber composition are not analyzed.     

Determination of the boiling point distribution of sulfur compounds in light cycle oil using GC with a flame photometric detector and pyrolyzer

A method has been developed to determine the boiling point distribution of sulfur compounds in light cycle oils (LCO'S). The method chosen for this analysis was GC with a flame photometric detector (FPD) and pyrolyzer. Tests were carried out to evaluate the recovery efficiency, repeatability, and accuracy of the method. Repeatabilities within 2% were obtained. The recovery of benzothiophenes and dibenzothiophenes was close to 100%; this was important because these are the major sulfur components in LCO's. No hydrocarbon or solvent interferences were observed with the use of the pyrolyzer, even for a 95% solvent level. Comparison with results from other techniques showed that the method accurately determined the levels of sulfur compounds in the LCO boiling point range.     

Domino synthetic strategy for tetrahydrothiophene derivatives from 2-acetylfuran/2-acetylthiophene,benzaldehydes, and sulfur powder

A domino reaction from 2-acetylfuran/2-acetylthiophene, benzaldehydes and sulfur powder has been developed to synthesize a series of tetrahydrothiophene derivatives. The reaction proceeds well to construct five new bonds and a tetrahydrothiophene ring by one-pot. A possible mechanism was proposed, involving a stepwise of Aldol/double Michael addition/internal S_N2 cascaded reaction with sulfur powder acts as a source of sulfur. This method is characterized by mild reaction conditions, commercially available starting materials and transition-metal-free.     

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

The 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.     

Reaction-based fluorescent probe for detecting of sulfur dioxide derivatives and hydrazine via distinct emission signals

Recently, the construction of multiple analytes responsive fluorescent probes with distinct emission signals has attracted widely attention. Thus, we have designed and synthesized a new fluorescent probe, 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazole dye skeleton (HBT-1), for the detection of sulfur dioxide and hydrazine. Significant fluorescence enhancements in two distinct emission bands (λ_em?=?464?nm and 498?nm) were generated when HBT-1 reacted with sulfur dioxide derivatives or hydrazine, respectively. Furthermore, the probe HBT-1 response can be saturated surpurisingly at the low concentration (100?μM), shorter reaction time for sulfur dioxide derivatives, while a longer reaction time and greater concentration (400?μM) for hydrazine. In other words, the probe HBT-1 can detect sulfur dioxide derivatives without hydrazine interference at low analyte concentrations.     

Evaluation of the influence of sulfur fumigation on the pharmacokinetics of four active ingredients in Si Wu Tang

Sulfur fumigation may induce the decrease or the chemical transformation of some active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines in vitro. Whether sulfur fumigation can cause the pharmacokinetic changes of the active ingredients in vivo is related to the efficacy and the safety of Chinese medicines’ application clinically. A sensitive, specific, and accurate method for the simultaneous determination of paeoniflorin, ferulic acid, senkyunolide A, and senkyunolide I in rat plasma by ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was developed to evaluate the influence of sulfur fumigation to Si Wu Tang for the first time. Each compound was extracted from plasma samples by liquid–liquid extraction with ethyl acetate, and the chromatographic separation was accomplished on an Agilent Extend C₁₈ column with a linear gradient elution. The mass spectrometric detection and analysis were performed by using an AB Sciex triple quadrupole 5500 mass spectrometer in multiple reaction monitoring mode. The validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of four compounds in rats after oral administration of sun‐dried and sulfur‐fumigated Si Wu Tang. The results provided a meaningful basis for evaluating the affection of sulfur fumigation to the clinical application and the efficacy of Si Wu Tang.     

Reductive sulfur extrusion reaction of 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole compounds: a new methodology using NaBH4/CoCl2·6H2O(cat) as the reducing system

A new simple and efficient methodology for reductive sulfur extrusion from 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole compounds has been developed using NaBH₄ in the presence of catalytic amounts of CoCl₂·6H₂O (1 mol %). This method is an efficient alternative for the generation of various 1,4-disubstituted-2,3-diaminobenzene derivatives from 4,7-disubstituted-2,1,3-benzothiadiazoles. The diamines can be easily converted into 4,7-disubstituted-quinoxaline compounds by simple reaction with glyoxal-sodium bisulfite.     

Analysis of sulfur-containing compounds in crude oils by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with sulfur chemiluminescence detection

This paper reports an analytical method for separating, identifying, and quantifying sulfur-containing compounds in crude oil fraction (IBP-360 degrees C) samples based on comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with a sulfur chemiluminescence detector. Various sulfur-containing compounds and their groups were analyzed with one direct injection. 3620 peaks were detected including 1722 thiols/thioethers/ disulfides/1-ring thiophenes, 953 benzothiophenes, 704 dibenzothiophenes, and 241 benzonaphthothiophenes. The target sulfur compounds and their groups were identified based on the group separation feature and structured retention of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography as well as standard substances. The quantitative analysis of major sulfur-containing compounds and total sulfur was based on the linear response of the sulfur chemiluminescence detector using the internal standard method. The sulfur contents of target sulfur compounds and their groups in 4 crude oil fractions were also determined. The recoveries for standard sulfur-containing compounds were in the range of 90-102%. The quantitative result of total sulfur in the Oman crude oil fraction sample was compared with those from ASTM D 4294 standard method (total S by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry), the relative deviation (RD%) was 4.2% and the precision of the method satisfactory.     

Gewald-type reaction of double activated 2,3-diarylcyclopropanes with elemental sulfur for synthesis of polysubstituted 2-aminothiophenes

A new synthetic procedure for the polysubstituted 2-aminothiophenes was developed via Gewald type ring-opening reaction of 1,1-dicyano-2,3-diarylcyclopropanes with elemental sulfur in N,N-dimethylformamide in the presence of morpholine as base.     

Sulfur standard solution for use in the determination of low sulfur concentration in liquid fuels

A sulfur reference solution at the 1 mg kg⁻¹ level, NMIJ CRM 4215-a, has been issued by the National Metrology Institute of Japan at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (NMIJ/AIST). The intended use of this CRM is for the calibration of standards used in the determination of sulfur in liquid fuels. The certified value of this CRM was determined using the gravimetric blending method. Thiophene and toluene were chosen as the high purity sulfur compound and the dilution solvent, respectively. Measurements of the trace sulfur in the solvent were performed using the total sulfur analyzer with an enrichment system; the standard addition method was employed. When trace sulfur in the solvent was evaluated, the signal which appears with no sample injection was subtracted as the background.     

Supercritical fluid chromatography of petroleum products using flameless sulfur chemiluminescence detection

Supercritical fluid chromatography using flameless sulfur chemiluminescence detection has been investigated for the analysis of sulfur compounds in petroleum products. The chromatography and detection system was easy to implement and exhibited good precision, linearity, selectivity, and sensitivity. A minimum detectable limit of 0.3 pg sulfur/s was obtained, and response to sulfur in different sulfur species was nearly equimolar.     

Coulometric determination of total sulfur and reduced inorganic sulfur fractions in environmental samples

Evaluation of the solid-phase partitioning of sulfur is frequently an important analytical component of risk assessments at hazardous waste sites because minerals containing reduced-sulfur can significantly affect the transport and fate of organic and inorganic contaminants in natural environments. We applied selected methods for the determination of total sulfur, acid-volatile sulfide (AVS), chromium-reducible sulfur (CRS), and extractable-sulfate in standard reference materials and sediment samples from a contaminated site. A coulometric titration method is presented and evaluated for total sulfur, AVS, and CRS. This method is especially advantageous for AVS and CRS determinations because hydrogen sulfide gas evolved during chemical extraction is detected and quantitated in-line; consequently, measurement endpoints can be precisely determined without need for setting arbitrary time limits. The coulometric method allows for improved data quality and increased laboratory throughput of samples. Data on sulfur partitioning are presented for four standard reference materials (NIST 1646a, NIST 2780, CCRMP LKSD-1, CCRMP RTS-3) for the purpose of supporting quality control in environmental studies involving the geochemical and biochemical cycling of sulfur.     

Measurements of sulfur in oil using a pressurised wet digestion technique in open vessels and isotope dilution mass spectrometry

Graz University of Technology has developed a new technique for digesting samples using the well-established high-pressure asher (HPA) from Anton Paar GmbH (Graz, Austria). The digestion is performed in semi-open vessels inside a pressurised autoclave. The new HPA equipment consists of a liner for the autoclave, special sample racks and 30-mL digestion vessels made of quartz, covered with PTFE stoppers. The Laboratory for Isotope Dilution and Nuclear Analysis of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM, Berlin) tested this new equipment in order to assess its usability for the decomposition of larger sample amounts of gas oils for the measurement of sulfur. Several experiments were carried out using the new sample decomposition technique. In order to test the recovery of the new digestion method, a gas oil material with known sulfur content was chosen, quantified by the validated conventional closed vessel HPA digestion in combination with thermal ionisation mass spectrometry. Isotope dilution mass spectrometry has been applied as analytical method in this investigation. The gas oil was spiked with an isotopic spike material, which is enriched in ³⁴S, and was then wet digested in the HPA. The oxidized sulfur of the dried samples was reduced to H₂S and precipitated as As₂S₃. The sulfur was measured as arsenic monosulfide (AsS⁺). The mass content of sulfur in the gas oil tested is 453.5 mg kg^–1. Recovery tests for increasing masses of gas oils indicate that the recovery using the new measurement technique decreases with increasing mass of gas oil. Results were obtained for approximately 0.3 g sample weight and had less overlap with the result of the old HPA method within the stated uncertainties. At approximately 0.5 g sample weight the yield decreases to about 97% and at approximately 1.0 g sample weight to about 87%. In comparison with the conventional closed vessel HPA digestion, the new technique shows no clear advantages for the certification of the sulfur content in gas oil other than a more convenient handling. The total uncertainty of the sulfur mass fractions (k=2) is about 1.5%. Repeated determination of the oil samples show a relative standard deviation of about 0.8% and indicate that the analytical procedure is robust and reproducible. The demonstrated reproducibility allows the establishment of correction factors for the yield, which in turn enables higher sample masses for routine work. The blank level (0.26×10^-6 g) was within the range of the conventional closed HPA digestion procedure·(0.28×10^-6 g). Cross contamination could not be detected. In terms of trace metal analysis a good applicability and more advantages over the conventional closed vessel HPA digestion can be assumed.     

Sorptive Enrichment of Sulfur Compounds from Gaseous Samples on Polydimethylsiloxane

A method has been developed for preconcentrating the volatile sulfur compounds from gaseous samples using a trap filled with a sorption material, polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS), without the need for extensive cryotrapping with liquid cryogens. The system is based on enrichment of the solutes on a packed bed of 50% (w/w) PDMS on solid support without cryotrapping and is then analysed by using thermal desorption followed by capillary column (GS‐GASPRO) gas chromatography with simultaneous sulfur‐selective detection. The practicality of the system was demonstrated by the analysis of natural gas. Using the system described here, the sulfur gaseous compounds known to cause nuisance odors in the natural gas could be quantitatively trapped. The application of 50% PDMS on silcoport? for the analysis of sulfur compounds from gaseous samples has been proved to be useful.     

The characterization and quantitation of sulfur-containing compounds in (heavy) middle distillates by LC-GC-FID-SCD

A modified sulfur chemiluniinescence detector (SCO) has been interfaced to a HPLC-HRGC hyphenated system. This combination enables the full characterization and quantitation of the sulfur containing compounds in (heavy) middle distillate oil fractions (boiling range 150–450°C). The system is suited to identify and determine the various groups of orgaiio-sulfur structures such as: thiols + sulfides + thiophencs, benzothiophenes, dibenzothiophenes and benzo-naphthothiophenes. Within these groups a separation according to boiling point is accomplished. Therefore it allows the separation, identification and quantitation of a number of individual species, especially those which are refractory to hydrodesulfu-rization (HDS), such as 3-methyl-benzothiophene, 4-methyl-dibenzothiophene and -J,6-dimethyl-dibenzothiophene. The analysis of these groups and specific compounds is the key in understanding the kinetics of the chemistry involved in HDS. The complete instrumental set-up is fully automated by computer control. To suppress possible interferences and quenching of the sulfur response of the SCL from (large amounts of) hydrocarbons, it is aligned above the adapted flame ionization detector (FID) of the GC. This renders a sensitivity of the SCO for sulfur of 2 pg. s^?1, which corresponds to a minimum detectable level for individual sulfur species in oil fractions for the complete system of 1 ppm (mg. kg^?1) sulfur. Its linear dynamic range exceeds 10⁵, which means that also untreated, high sulfur containing feedstocks can be analyzed directly. The selectivity of sulfur to carbon of the modified SCO exceeds 10⁶. A number of HDS feedstocks and desulfurized products of different desulfurization levels have been analyzed with the system. From the analysis results the behavior of the refractory compounds in HDS can now be followed closely.     

Flow injection gas chromatography with sulfur chemiluminescence detection for the analysis of total sulfur in complex hydrocarbon matrixes

A fast and reliable analytical technique for the determination of total sulfur levels in complex hydrocarbon matrices is introduced. The method employed flow injection technique using a gas chromatograph as a sample introduction device and a gas phase dual‐plasma sulfur chemiluminescence detector for sulfur quantification. Using the technique described, total sulfur measurement in challenging hydrocarbon matrices can be achieved in less than 10 s with sample‐to‐sample time <2 min. The high degree of selectivity and sensitivity toward sulfur compounds of the detector offers the ability to measure low sulfur levels with a detection limit in the range of 20 ppb w/w S. The equimolar response characteristic of the detector allows the quantitation of unknown sulfur compounds and simplifies the calibration process. Response is linear over a concentration range of five orders of magnitude, with a high degree of repeatability. The detector's lack of response to hydrocarbons enables direct analysis without the need for time‐consuming sample preparation and chromatographic separation processes. This flow injection‐based sulfur chemiluminescence detection technique is ideal for fast analysis or trace sulfur analysis.     

新型二氧化硫被动采样器的研制

研究了一种新型二氧化硫被动采样器。考察了无纺布、定性滤纸和定量滤纸等吸收剂的载体在相同情况下对二氧化硫和二氧化氮的吸收效果 ,对吸收载体进行了优选。并针对低温地区和高温高湿的气候条件 ,确立了以三乙醇胺(TEA)为吸收主体 ,分别以乙二醇、丙三醇为添加剂的吸收体系。