Determination of Total Sulfur in Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Related Chemicals by UV Fluorescence according to ASTM D7183 Application Note · multi EA 5100

Introduction

Liquid hydrocarbons play an important role in the refinery processes, the petrochemical, chemical and polymer industry – either as raw materials, process intermediates, or as end products. Regardless of their source or their further use, they all have in common that they need to be ultrapure. Undesired components like sulfur, nitrogen or chlorine compounds negatively affect the production process and the quality of the final products even if they occur only in the smallest traces.

Especially sulfur impurities are known to affect the performance and service life of the used catalyst materials (poisoning). The formation of unwanted by-products and a decreased product quality are additional problems. To prevent that, the TS content has to be kept as low as possible, preferably below 100 µg/L, making a close sulfur monitoring essential in process and quality control labs. Hence, hightemperature combustion in combination with UV fluorescence detection is the most effective method.

The multi EA 5100 is an analysis system specifically optimized for this challenging task. Combining high-temperature combustion, a high-performance reaction gas dryer, and sensitive HiPerSens detection, it allows for the determination of sulfur traces as low as 5 µg/L.