Overcoming the high-temperature two-dimensional gas chromatography limits to elute heavy compounds

Overcoming high-temperature (HT) two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) limits is critical for the analysis of heavy hydrocarbons, particularly those contained in heavy petroleum fractions. To reach this goal, HT-GC×GC analysis was adapted from HT-GC Simulated Distillation (HT-GC SimDist) operating conditions as this analysis embraces compounds whose boiling point ranges from 35 °C to 700 °C and from a previous study that enabled the elution of linear alkane nC60 and tetraaromatic compounds by HT-GC×GC. This paper shows that HT-GC×GC analysis using CO2 cryogenic modulator and short wide bore columns with a thin film of stationary phase allows the elution of linear alkanes up to nC68 (641 °C) as well as of highly aromatic hydrocarbons like coronene. Furthermore, compared to previous studies, an on-column injector was used to reduce discrimination of high boiling point compounds.