Determination of aromatic hydrocarbons in gasolines by flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

Valve based/flow modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–flame ionization detection (GC × GC–FID) was used for quantification of C6 through C12 aromatic hydrocarbons by carbon number in gasolines. A 0.53 mm i.d. non-polar first dimension column was coupled to a 0.53 mm i.d. polar second dimension column through a double loop eight port valve modulator. Depending on the sample type, normalized percent and internal standard (I.S.) quantification was performed. For normalized percent quantification, a one-point calibration performed with one aromatic compound per carbon number/class provided an average % accuracy of 2.1% and a short-term n − 1 relative standard deviation of 1.0%. For total aromatic compounds good agreement with the more complex conventional multidimensional GC technique was obtained. However, GC × GC has certain advantages over most other methods, mainly increased selectivity for total and carbon number aromatic content. The identification of the aromatic hydrocarbons was confirmed by GC × GC–MS.