CHNSO Elemental Analyses of Volatile Organic Liquids by Combined GC/MS and GC/Flame Ionisation Detection Techniques with Application to Hydrocarbon-Rich Biofuels

Abstract

Elemental analysis is a fundamental method for determining the carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, and oxygen (CHNSO) contents in organic materials. Automated conventional elemental analysers are commonly used for CHNSO determinations, but they face challenges when analysing volatile organic liquids due to sample losses. This present study explores the combination of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography–flame ionisation detection (GC/FID) as a more accurate alternative method for elemental analysis of such liquids. Six different liquid samples containing various organic compounds have been analysed using both a conventional elemental analyser (Method 1) and the combined GC/MS–GC/FID method (Method 2). The results showed that Method 1 gave results with significant errors for carbon (by more than ±10 wt%) and oxygen (by up to ±30 wt%) contents due to volatile losses leading to inaccurate “oxygen-by-difference” determinations. In contrast, Method 2 gave more accurate and consistently representative elemental data in a set of simulated samples when compared to theoretical elemental data. This work proposes the use of the GC/FID method as a reliable alternative for CHNSO analysis of volatile organic liquids and suggests that employing the GC/FID technique can mitigate the common errors associated with conventional CHNSO analysis of such samples. However, successfully using Method 2 would depend on the skills and experience of users in qualitative and quantitative organic chemical analyses by gas chromatography.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29184346
Divisions: College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering > Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry
Aston University (General)
Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the support of Horizon Europe’s Marie-Sklodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (Grant Number 892998) for C.T.A. and J.A.O.
Additional Information: Copyright © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Uncontrolled Keywords: CHNSO,GC/FID quantification,GC/MS identification,elemental analyser,sustainable hydrocarbon-rich liquids,volatile organic liquids,Analytical Chemistry,Chemistry (miscellaneous),Molecular Medicine,Pharmaceutical Science,Drug Discovery,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry,Organic Chemistry
Publication ISSN: 1420-3049
Data Access Statement: All relevant data generated from this research are presented in the main manuscript and Supplementary Materials.
Last Modified: 21 Nov 2024 08:23
Date Deposited: 25 Oct 2024 14:13
Full Text Link: https://www.mdp ... 3049/29/18/4346
Related URLs: http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2024-09
Published Online Date: 2024-09-13
Accepted Date: 2024-09-10
Authors: Onwudili, Jude (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-5355-9970)
Peters, Morenike Ajike
Alves, Carine Tondo

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