Characterization of alkylated aromatic sulphur compounds in light cycle oil from hydrotreated vacuum gas oil using GC-SCD

A light cycle oil (LCO) fraction in the boiling point range 220–337 °C was successfully characterized in detail with respect to 29 individual aromatic sulphur compounds and total sulphur content using high-resolution gas chromatography with sulphur chemiluminescence detection (HRGC-SCD). The resulting chromatogram, although very complex with hundreds of different alkyl-substituted aromatic sulphur derivatives, was well resolved owing to the high performance Equity-1 column and the optimised GC method. A shift in the sulphur distribution towards the heavier homologues was observed due to the origin of the LCO, derived from hydrotreated vacuum gas oil.