The characterisation of crude oils and the analysis of by-products produced in petrochemical plants

The use of solid phase extraction (SPE) in conjunction with gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has been evaluated for identifying aromatic compounds in crude oils. A standard hexane solution of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was used for SPE method development using a coupled silic cyano cartridge system. Quantitative GC/MS analysis confirmed that the SPE method developed provided potential for the high recovery of the PAHs within a single solvent fraction. The SPE method proved unsuccessful for the isolation of aromatic compounds from crude oil since the oil itself modified the mobile phase.<br/><br/>Column chromatography with silica as stationary phase provided a means of fractionating crude oil such that the aromatic profile could be determined by GC/MS. With this approach in excess of forty aromatic compounds were found to be present within a sample of Libyan crude oil . The use of supercritical fluid extraction was also evaluated as a rapid means for the isolation of aromatic species from crude oil. The oil was loaded onto a silica support prior to extraction. Using high density supercritical fluid carbon dioxide only aliphatic hydrocarbons could be isolated from the crude oil sample.<br/><br/>Studies involving chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques were also performed to characterise by-products associated with petrochemical plant and gas field industrial operations. An impurity isolated from a urea plant was tentatively identified as a polyamide species whereas an impurity obtained from a methanol plant was found to be composed of a mixture of hydrocarbons ranging from C-12 to C-33. A deposit obtained from the Sahel gas field was determined to be largely composed of a complex mixture of inorganic compounds.<br/>

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Master's Thesis

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Student thesis

Year dc:date.issued

1996

Author dc:creator

• Wafa, Aboulgasim

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

oai:pure.atira.dk:studenttheses/2602567f-d0ee-41c9-a697-d66810e97ec7

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:pure.atira.dk:studenttheses/2602567f-d0ee-41c9-a697-d66810e97ec7