Composition of Hydrogenated Vacuum Gas Oil Analysis by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Many attempts are made to obtain the composition of vacuum gas oil (VGO) but the molecular composition of hydrogenated vacuum gas oil (HVGO) has not been studied in detail. HVGO is used as a feed in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) to produce more environmentally friendly gasoline. This paper reports the presence of linear alkyl cyclohexanes (LACHs) in HVGO. Some LACHs were found in HVGO distillates of boiling point range of 370°C-550°C. Complete molecular composition was analyzed using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). HVGO contains LACHs from C7to C32andn-paraffins from C5to C38. Open chain hydrocarbons are the major constituents of all the six samples of HVGO. Aromatic compounds were also identified but their concentration was very low. Sulfur contents were about 0.26% by weight percentage (wt).The present paper focuses on development of method for qualitative and quantitative determination of LACHs in HVGO samples using GC-MS analysis method.