This document briefly describes the ability of the Agilent 355 Sulfur Chemiluminescence Detector (SCD) to help refiners meet some of the sulfur measurement challenges for low-sulfur diesel fuels. Sulfur compounds occur naturally in petroleum and feedstocks for fuel production. Their presence creates processing challenges and impacts product quality. Many sulfur compounds are toxic, reactive, and corrosive to processing equipment and damage catalysts used in hydrocarbon processing. In terms of the product quality of fuels, sulfur compounds impart undesirable odors and contribute to gum formation in gasoline and diesel fuel, and turbine deposits in jet fuel, especially in military aircraft. From a pollution standpoint, all fuel sulfur contributes to acid rain. It is also known that sulfur compounds poison catalytic converters used in modern automobiles, contributing to other emission problems. In industrialized nations, strict environmental regulations directed toward sulfur have been critical to improving air quality. The U.S. EPA and other environmental regulatory bodies, particularly those in Europe, Japan, and other industrialized nations, have developed regulations.
This document provides a technical overview of the Agilent 355 Sulfur Chemiluminescence Detector (SCD). It explains how this instrument helps refiners meet environmental regulations by accurately measuring sulfur levels in fuels like gasoline and diesel, which is critical for reducing air pollution and protecting catalytic converters.
The text details why gas chromatography with sulfur-selective detection is necessary to measure both trace total sulfur and specific sulfur species. It includes an example analysis of a low-sulfur diesel sample containing approximately 6 mg/kg total sulfur, demonstrating the detector's capability.
The Agilent 355 SCD is used to measure sulfur in low-sulfur diesel fuels.
The analysis uses a 1 mL injection volume with a 1:8 split ratio.
The diesel sample contained approximately 6 mg/kg total sulfur.