Quantitation of High Boiling Fractions of North Sea Oil after Class Separation and Gel Permeation Chromatography

Abstract

Deasphalted high boiling petroleum fractions (b.p. > 350[ddot]C) were rapidly separated into saturates, aromatics and polars using a two-column system (silica and cyano-bonded silica) with column switching and backflushing. Each of the classes were separated by size using gel permeation chromatography. The quantitation by refractive index detection was compared to the results from gravimetric analysis and the data indicated that refractive index detection can be used for quantitation of the gel permeation chromatographic separation of the individual classes of high boiling fractions of petroleum. For the separation into classes, the possibility of using quantitation based on refractive index detection and response factors obtained from similar high boiling residues were examined.