Characterization of Nitrogen Compounds in Coker Heavy Gas Oil and Its Subfractions by Liquid Chromatographic Separation Followed by Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry

Energy Fuels, 2011, 25 (1), pp 281–287
Characterization of Nitrogen Compounds in Coker Heavy Gas Oil and Its Subfractions by Liquid Chromatographic Separation Followed by Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry
Xiaochun Zhu†, Quan Shi*†, Yahe Zhang†, Na Pan†, Chunming Xu*†, Keng H. Chung‡, and Suoqi Zhao†
sq@cup.edu.cn
xcm@cup.edu.cn
† State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
‡ Well Resources, Incorporated, 3919-149A Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6R 1J8, Canada
Abstract
A coker heavy gas oil (CHGO) was separated into saturates, aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes (SARA) fractions. The resin fraction was separated into six subfractions by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
The CHGO and its subfractions were characterized by electrospray ionization (ESI) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). The mass spectra showed that the mass range of basic and neutral nitrogen compounds was 200−450 and 160−400 Da, respectively. Five nitrogen class species, N1, N2, N1O1, N1O2, and N1S1, were assigned in the positive-ion spectrum. Six nitrogen class species, N1, N2, N1O1, N1O2, N2O1, and N1S1, were assigned in the negative-ion spectrum. Among the identified nitrogen compounds, the N1 class species was dominant. The N1 class species were enriched in the resin fraction. The N2 class species are likely amphoteric molecules and were enriched in the asphaltene fraction.
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