Optimized Supercritical Fluid Chromatographic Instrumentation for the Analysis of Petroleum Fractions

Abstract

The performance of a supercritical fluid chromatograph (SFC) for the analysis of petroleum fractions, specifically diesel and jet fuels, is reported. The SFC instrument passes the requirements of ASTM Method 5186-96 for accuracy, linearity, and repeatability following the proper adjustment of detector gas flows and detector temperature. Up to a sixfold improvement in the precision (measured as relative standard deviation) is seen when the pressure transducer is temperature-controlled independent of the laboratory air temperature.