Chromatography Forum

Hello all,

I currently have a GC that is equipped to handle gas samples but I recently obtained another GCMS and am looking into measuring sulfur content in diesel fuel with it. Just looking to get some general information on what I may need as far as columns, carrier gas, detectors and such. I assume the MS would be the best detector for this but would love some information from someone with more experience. Thanks for the help!

Is it a student project or a kind of proffessional activity ?
What is the purpose of estimating sulphur content in diesel fuel ?

If it is your proffessional activity than you should buy suitable ASTM or ISO standard for sulphur determination. BTW - standardized method is not necessarily GC.

Are you looking to speciate sulfur compounds or do you just need a TOTAL SULFUR concentrations? If you are looking for TOTAL Sulfur, this is usually done by ASTM Method D5453 (D5453 Standard Test Methods for Determination of Total Sulfur in Light Hydrocarbons, Motor Fuels and Oils by Ultraviolet Fluorescence). This is not a GC method but a combustion elemental analyzer with UV detector.

Hey,

How low do you need to go? We routinely look at trace sulfur compounds in all manner of hydrocarbon matrices using not a GCMS but an SCD. Here is an article from Agilent that might give you some guidance/ideas. We normally quote at DL of 1 ppm (wt/wt), but this article states 0.1 ppm.

https://www.agilent.com/cs/library/appl ... 3108EN.pdf

SCDs are often finicky but exhibit great selectivity and sensitivity for sulfur.

Hope this helps!

I need to be able to see 15 ppm accurately. I am hoping to test for sulfur content in liquid diesel fuel as well as in gaseous propane. It won't be one of my main functions so I don't have a lot of money to put into it. Just hoping something I already have would do it. Seems like this is a pretty specific test though with specific pieces of equipment that don't really come cheap.