On-line gas chromatographic analysis of light Fischer-Tropsch synthesis products

Summary A simple gas chromatographic system has been developed for the rapid on-line analysis of light Fischer-Tropsch products. This involves a single chromatography fitted with two columns, a porous-layer open-tubular column coated with KCl deactivated alumina and a packed Porapak-Q column. The capillary column separates the 16 most common C₁−C₄ hydrocarbons and permits a reasonable analysis of the hydrocarbons in the C₅−C₇ range. The packed column is used for the separation of methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water and methanol. Retention characteristics for the analysis on the capillary column are presented. The total analysis cycle is 30 minutes.