A multi-dimensional high performance liquid chromatographic method for fingerprinting polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their alkyl-homologs in the heavy gas oil fraction of Alaskan North Slope crude

We report an offline multi-dimensional high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique for the group separation and analysis of PAHs in a heavy gas oil fraction (boiling range 287–481 °C). Waxes present in the heavy gas oil fraction were precipitated using cold acetone at −20 °C. Recovery studies showed that the extract contained 93% (±1%; n = 3) of the PAHs that were originally present while the wax residue contained only 6% (±0.5%; n = 3). PAHs present in the extract were fractionated, based on number of rings, into five fractions using a semi-preparative silica column (normal-phase HPLC). These fractions were analyzed using reverse-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) coupled to a diode array detector (DAD). The method separated alkyl and un-substituted PAHs on two reverse-phase columns in series using an acetonitrile/water mobile phase. UV spectra of the chromatographic peaks were used to differentiate among PAH groups. Further characterization of PAHs within a given group to determine the substituent alkyl carbon number used retention time matching with a suite of alkyl-PAH standards. Naphthalene, dibenzothiophene, phenanthrene and fluorene and their C1–C4 alkyl isomers were quantified. The concentrations of these compounds obtained using the current method were compared with that of a GC–MS analysis obtained from an independent oil chemistry laboratory.