Abstract:

The identification of isoparaffin components in petroleum middle fractions including kerosene and diesel fuels was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The isodewaxing middle fraction and distilled diesel were selected as the objective samples for identification. It was shown that the isoparaffin components in middle fraction were well separated with their branched alkyl substituent numbers on a capillary chromatographic column in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode of GC/MS. The identification for C₁₀-C₂₄ isoparaffins was realized with the technique of GC/MS, such as the fragmentation pathways of electron ionization and SIM technique, boiling point rule, published retention indices and theoretical rules about component retention behavior in GC including carbon number rule etc. Finally, the retention indices for the mono-substituted, di-substituted and multi-substituted isoparaffins from C₁₀ to C₂₄ were presented, which could provide an overall knowledge of isoparaffin distribution at carbon number level in fuels. Meanwhile, the peaks that could be well resolved in each isoparaffin group were also identified, and the detailed data for about 80 C₁₀-C₂₁ methyl-substituted isoparaffins and isoprenoid biomarkers were also given. The results showed that in isodewaxing middle fraction studied, the mono-substituted and di-substituted isoparaffins were the main paraffins, whereas in distilled diesel studies, the mono-substituted isoparaffins and isoprenoid biomarkers were the main ones.

Key words: diesel, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), identification, isoparaffins, kerosene, middle fractions, petroleum